Marcus Meibomius
Encyclopedia
Marcus Meibomius was a Danish general scholar. Best known now as a historian of music
, he was an antiquarian and librarian, and also a philologist and mathematician.
He is best known for his work Antiquae musicae auctores septem of 1652, on ancient Greek music. It printed works, in Greek originals with Latin translation, by Aristoxenos, Cleonides
(though attributed to Euclid
) Gaudentius, Nicomachus
, Alypius
, Bacchius, and Aristides Quintilianus
(supported by Martianus Capella
). It is now seen as pioneer scholarship, not supplanted until the twentieth century, and largely comprehensive on the topic. He attempted concert performances reconstructing Greek music.
He wrote also on the Bible and classical trireme
s (Fabrica Triremium, 1671). A well-known figure and intellectual of his times, he was considered a polemicist and a somewhat eccentric figure, about whom anecdotes circulated.
History of music
Music is found in every known culture, past and present, varying wildly between times and places. Around 50,000 years ago, early modern humans began to disperse from Africa, reaching all the habitable continents...
, he was an antiquarian and librarian, and also a philologist and mathematician.
He is best known for his work Antiquae musicae auctores septem of 1652, on ancient Greek music. It printed works, in Greek originals with Latin translation, by Aristoxenos, Cleonides
Cleonides
Cleonides is the author of a Greek treatise on music theory titled Eisagōgē harmonikē . The date of the treatise, based on internal evidence, can be established only to the broad period between the 3rd century BCE and the 4th century CE; however, treatises titled eisagōgē generally began to appear...
(though attributed to Euclid
Euclid
Euclid , fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I...
) Gaudentius, Nicomachus
Nicomachus
Nicomachus was an important mathematician in the ancient world and is best known for his works Introduction to Arithmetic and Manual of Harmonics in Greek. He was born in Gerasa, in the Roman province of Syria , and was strongly influenced by Aristotle...
, Alypius
Alypius (music writer)
Alypius of Alexandria was a Greek writer on music who flourished c. 360. Of his works, only a small fragment has been preserved, under the title of Introduction to Music .-Works:...
, Bacchius, and Aristides Quintilianus
Aristides Quintilianus
Aristides Quintilianus was the Greek author of an ancient musical treatise, Perì musikês , who probably lived in the third century AD. According to Marcus Meibomius, in whose collection Aristides Quintilianus (Greek: Ἀριστείδης Κοϊντιλιανός) was the Greek author of an ancient musical treatise,...
(supported by Martianus Capella
Martianus Capella
Martianus Minneus Felix Capella was a pagan writer of Late Antiquity, one of the earliest developers of the system of the seven liberal arts that structured early medieval education...
). It is now seen as pioneer scholarship, not supplanted until the twentieth century, and largely comprehensive on the topic. He attempted concert performances reconstructing Greek music.
He wrote also on the Bible and classical trireme
Trireme
A trireme was a type of galley, a Hellenistic-era warship that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans.The trireme derives its name from its three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar...
s (Fabrica Triremium, 1671). A well-known figure and intellectual of his times, he was considered a polemicist and a somewhat eccentric figure, about whom anecdotes circulated.
Sources
- http://www.venturus.de/eckstein.pdf, under Maybaum, gives his birth date as 1630, place of birth Tönningen, Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
- http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-11082005-173731/unrestricted/Filar_Dissertation_FinalDraft.pdf, p. 264, gives him as born 1620, and Danish.
- http://www.ub.uu.se/arv/waller/russin.cfm gives dates 1630-1711, gives some career details (work for Queen ChristinaChristina of SwedenChristina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...
in Sweden, and in Copenhagen 1653-1663 as librarian). It also implies family relationship to Heinrich MeibomHeinrich MeibomHeinrich Meibom may refer to:* Heinrich Meibom * Heinrich Meibom , grandson of the poet...
. Similar dates in the Leibniz-Edition's Persons' database (1630-1710/11) and Gail Ewald Scala: An Index of Proper Names in Thomas Birch, 'The History of the Royal Society', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 28, No. 2, 1974, pp. 263-329, here p. 302 (1630-1711).
Works
- Antiquae Musicae Auctores Septem. Graece et Latine (1652)
- De Proportionibus (1655), a work attacked by John Wallis in Adversus Meibomium, de proportionibus dialogus (1657)
- Liber de Fabrica Triremium (1671)
- Davidis psalmi X (1690)
- Diogenes LaertiusDiogenes LaertiusDiogenes Laertius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is one of the principal surviving sources for the history of Greek philosophy.-Life:Nothing is definitively known about his life...
(1692) - Davidis Psalmi duodecim, & totidem Sacrae Scripturae Veteris Testamenti integra capita (1698)
External links
- Article Meibomius (Marcus) in Charles HuttonCharles HuttonCharles Hutton was an English mathematician.Hutton was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne. He was educated in a school at Jesmond, kept by Mr Ivison, a clergyman of the Church of England...
's Mathematical and philosophical dictionary (1795)