Scaliger Research Project

Biographical Notes

Joseph Scaliger was born in southern France in 1540 into the family of the great scholar Julius Caesar Scaliger, author of the influential Poetics. His early education was at Bordeaux. From Bordeaux he returned to spend his teenage years with his father until the latter’s death in 1558, a few weeks after his son’s eighteenth birthday. Scaliger’s father was the central figure in his life, and after his death he cultivated his reputation with great zeal. Following a period of intense study in Paris, he became in 1563 a companion of the French nobleman, Louis de la Rochepozay. His patronage allowed Scaliger the resources to travel, study and write. Among his earliest works were editions of classical authors, and he acquired a reputation as an acute textual critic at a time when this skill was still highly regarded. In 1593, at the age of 52 and at the height of his powers, he moved from France to the University of Leiden. There, with a comfortable salary and no teaching commitments, he continued his studies until his death in 1609. About eighty per cent of the surviving correspondence comes from his time at Leiden. (PB).