The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Klotz, Christian Adolf

KLOTZ, klōts, Christian Adolf, German critic and Latin scholar: b. Bishopswerda, 13 Nov. 1738; d. Halle, 31 Dec. 1771. He studied at Leipzig and Jena; became professor of philosophy at Göttingen 1763; and professor of oratory at Halle 1765. He proved himself expert in philology through his Latin poems (collected in &lsquo;Opuscula poetica,&rsquo; 1766); &lsquo;Der Ausgabe des Tyrtäoa,&rsquo; (1764); numerous treatises such as &lsquo;Opuscula varii argumenti&rsquo; (1766); &lsquo;Opuscula philologica et oratoria&rsquo; (1772). He

got into controversy with the Algemeinen Biblothek, to which he had contributed, and by his &lsquo;Ueber den Nützen und gebrauch der alten geschnittenen Steine&rsquo; (1768), criticizing Lessing's &lsquo;Laokoon,&rsquo; he brought forth that poet's response in the &lsquo;Briefe antiquarischen Inhalts&rsquo; (1768-69). His disputes were carried on in Acta Literaria and Deutschen Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften (1767-72); &lsquo;Genius Saeculi&rsquo; (1760) had a satirical purpose, as also had his &lsquo;Mores Eruditorum&rsquo; and &lsquo;Opuscula Latina&rsquo; (1760). Consult Hausen, &lsquo;Leben und Charakter Herrn Klotz&rsquo; (Halle 1772); Hagen, &lsquo;Briefe deutschen gelehrten an Klotz&rsquo; (1773); Sandys, &lsquo;A History of Classical Scholarship&rsquo; (Cambridge 1903-08).