Michael Denis
Encyclopedia
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
of Denis. the Bard, (27 September 1729 – 29 September 1800) was an Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, bibliographer
Bibliographer
"A bibliographer is a person who describes and lists books and other publications, with particular attention to such characteristics as authorship, publication date, edition, typography, etc. The result of this endeavor is a bibliography...
, and lepidopterist
Lepidopterist
A lepidopterist is a person who specialises in the study of Lepidoptera, members of an order encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
.
He was born at Schärding
Schärding
Schärding is a town in northern Upper Austria, Austria, capital of the district of the same name, and a major port on the Inn River. As of 2001, it has a population of 5,052. Historically it was owned by the Wittelsbach family, which reflects on the town's architecture...
on the Inn
Inn River
The Inn is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube and is approximately 500km long. The highest point of its drainage basin is the summit of Piz Bernina, at 4,049 metres.- Geography :...
, brought up by the Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, entered their order, and in 1759 was appointed professor in the Theresianum in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, a Jesuit college. In 1784, after the suppression of the college, he was made second custodian of the court library, and seven years later became chief librarian.
A warm admirer of Klopstock
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was a German poet.-Biography:Klopstock was born at Quedlinburg, the eldest son of a lawyer.Both in his birthplace and on the estate of Friedeburg on the Saale, which his father later rented, young Klopstock passed a happy childhood; and more attention having been given...
, he was one of the leading members of the group of so-called bard
Bard
In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
s; and his original poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, published under the title Die Lieder Sineds des Barden (1772), shows all the extravagances of the bardic movement. He is best remembered as the translator of Ossian
Ossian
Ossian is the narrator and supposed author of a cycle of poems which the Scottish poet James Macpherson claimed to have translated from ancient sources in the Scots Gaelic. He is based on Oisín, son of Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill, anglicised to Finn McCool, a character from Irish mythology...
(1768–1769; also published together with his own poems in 5 vols. as Ossians und Sineds Lieder, 1784).
More important than either his original poetry or his translations were his efforts to familiarize the Austrians with the literature of Northern Germany
Northern Germany
- Geography :The key terrain features of North Germany are the marshes along the coastline of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, and the geest and heaths inland. Also prominent are the low hills of the Baltic Uplands, the ground moraines, end moraines, sandur, glacial valleys, bogs, and Luch...
; his Sammlung kürzerer Gedichte aus den neuern Dichtern Deutschlands, 3 vols. (1762–1766), was in this respect invaluable. He has also left a number of bibliographical compilations, Grundriss der Bibliographie und Bücherkunde (1774), Grundriss der Literaturgeschichte (1776), Einleitung in die Bücherkunde (1777), and Wiens Buchdruckergeschichte bis 1560 (1782).
In addition, working with Ignaz Schiffermüller
Ignaz Schiffermüller
Ignaz Schiffermüller was an Austrian naturalist mainly interested in Lepidoptera....
he formed an early collection of butterflies
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
and moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s, which was kept at the Hofburg
Hofburg Imperial Palace
Hofburg Palace is a palace located in Vienna, Austria, that has housed some of the most powerful people in Austrian history, including the Habsburg dynasty, rulers of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It currently serves as the official residence of the President of Austria...
but lost in the revolution of 1848, and published the first catalog of the Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
found around Vienna.
Ossians und Sineds Lieder have not been reprinted since 1791; but a selection of his poetry edited by Richard Hamel will be found in vol. 48 (1884) of Kürschners Deutsche Nationalliteratur. His Literarischer Nachlass
Nachlass
Nachlass is a German word, used in academia to describe the collection of manuscripts, notes, correspondence, and so on left behind when a scholar dies. The word is a compound in German: nach means 'after', and the verb lassen means 'leave'. The plural can be either Nachlasse or Nachlässe...
was published by Joseph Friedrich Freiherr von Retzer in 1802 (2 vols).
See Paul von Hofmann-Wellenhof, Michael Denis. Ein Beitrag zur deutsch-oesterreichischen Literaturgeschichte des XVIII. Jahrhunderts (1881).
Works
- Poetische Bilder der meisten kriegerischen Vorgänge in Europa seit dem Jahr 1756, Wien 1760
- Die Gedichte Ossians, eines alten celtischen Dichters, aus dem Englischen übersetzt, Wien 1768–69
- Einleitung in die Bücherkunde, Wien 1777–1778
- Die Lieder Sineds des Barden, Wien 1772 (which includes the text to MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's GibraltarBardengesang auf Gibraltar: O Calpe! Dir donnert's am FusseBardengesang auf Gibraltar: O Calpe! Dir donnert's am Fusse is the title of a fragment for voice and piano composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782 to celebrate the Great Siege of Gibraltar...
). - Systematisches Verzeichniß der Schmetterlinge der Wienergegend herausgegeben von einigen Lehrern am k. k. Theresianum (with Ignaz SchiffermüllerIgnaz SchiffermüllerIgnaz Schiffermüller was an Austrian naturalist mainly interested in Lepidoptera....
), Wien 1775 - Grundriß der Bibliographie, Wien 1777
- Die Merkwürdigkeiten der k. k. garellischen öffentlichen Bibliothek am Theresiano, Wien 1780
- Bibliotheca typographica Vindobonensis ab anno 1482 usque ad annum 1560, Wien 1782 (auch deutsch Wiens Buchdruckergeschichte bis 1560, Wien 1782–1793)
- Ossian und Sineds Lieder, 5 Bände, 1784
- Kurze Erzählung der Streitigkeiten über die alten Urkunden, Heidelberg 1785
- Zurückerinnerungen, Wien 1794
- Carmina quaedam, Wien 1794
- Beschäftigungen mit Gott schon in dem 12. Jahrhundert gesammelt, Wien 1799
Literature
- Paul von Hofmann-Wellenhof: Michael Denis. Ein Beitrag zur deutsch-oesterreichischen Literaturgeschichte des XVIII. Jahrhunderts. Wagner, Innsbruck 1881