764 HOLBEIN geon, to whose supervision he confided all his works, and of Diderot. HOLBEIN, Hans, or Johann, called the Younger, a German painter, born in Augsburg or Griin- stadt between 1495 and 1498, died of the plague in London in 1554 or in 1543. He was the son of a painter of the same name (Hans the Elder), of considerable eminence during the lat- ter half of the 15th century, and while a boy followed his father to Basel. Here he executed remarkable works for private houses, public buildings, and churches, many of which have been preserved. About 1526 he contracted an intimacy with Erasmus, whose portrait he .painted, and soon after visited England, where he passed the remainder of his life. A letter from Erasmus recommended him to Sir Thomas More, who introduced him at court. Henry VIII. at once made him court painter, with a liberal pension, and thenceforth Holbein was intrusted with many commissions, chiefly for portraits, both from the king and the princi- pal personages of the kingdom. He is distin- guished as a historical and portrait painter, and engraver on wood. He painted in oils and distemper, and excelled in miniatures. As an engraver he is chiefly known by the celebrated "Dance of Death," a series of 53 woodcuts en- graved from his own designs, although it is sel- dom found with more than 46. (See DANCE OF DEATH.) This series has been frequently engraved, and the prints of Wenzel Hollar are particularly fine. It is said that be used the left hand in painting. The Holbein collection in the museum of Basel, which had been pre- pared by his friend Amerbach, comprises the portraits of the latter and of Holbein's wife and children, and other masterpieces. His portraits of Sir Thomas More and other per- sonages are at Windsor, and many are at Ken- sington and in various English and continental galleries, private and public. Much controver- sy exists in regard to the genuineness of some of the works ascribed to him, especially in re- spect to two pictures both claiming to be ori- ginals and representing the "Madonna of the Burgomaster Meyer of Basel ;" one of these is in Darmstadt, and the other in Dresden ; both were critically examined in 1871 by competent authorities, but without a decision on the sub- ject. Many works have appeared in modern times on Holbein's life and works, the latest of which is Holbein und seine Zeit, by A. Wolt- mann (2 vols., Leipsic, 1868; revised, with illustrations, 1874). HOLBERG, Lndvig, baron, a Danish dramatist, born in Bergen, Norway, Nov. 6, 1684, died in Copenhagen, Jan. 28, 1754. When a boy he was placed under the care of the bishop of Munthe, his relative, who caused him to be sent to the college of Bergen, whence at the age of 18 he went to the university of Copen- hagen, where he graduated in 1705, and after- ward studied philosophy at Oxford. Return- ing to Copenhagen after 15 months, he was made professor extraordinary in the university, HOLCROFT and was commissioned to examine and report upon the Lutheran schools of Holland. He was again appointed professor in the university, first of metaphysics (1718), but ultimately of rhet- oric (1720). In 1722 he produced his comedy " The Political Tinman," which received un- bounded applause ; and at very short intervals 14 other pieces were composed and played with increasing success. His patron Frederick IV. was succeeded in 1730 by King Christian VI., whose religious zeal led him to forbid the- atrical entertainments ; but Holberg's " Sleep- er Awakened," "John of France," "Lying- in Chamber," " False Savant," and others, all pictures in caricature of the manners of the Danish middle classes, had been stamped in- delibly upon the public mind. He next wrote a satirical romance in Latin (1741) called "The Subterranean Travels of Nicholas Klim," which was translated into many languages. Frede- rick V. restored the theatre in 1746, and gave Holberg a patent of nobility. He never mar- ried, and bequeathed his property chiefly to an academy which had been founded at Soroe by Christian IV. for the education of young noblemen. He gave 16,000 crowns as a fund to portion a number of young Danish women. His Danmarlcs Riges Historie (3 vols., 1732-'o) was the first attempt at writing a thorough his- tory of Denmark. His " History of the Jews " and "Stories of Heroes and Heroines" are works of lasting merit. A collection of his works in 27 vols. appeared at Copenhagen in 1826. He left an " Introduction to Universal History " in Latin, translated into English by Gregory Sharpe, LL. D. (8vo, London, 1755), and his autobiography, an English translation of which also appeared in London in 1830. In 1842 the Holberg society was founded at Co- penhagen, which published a critical edition of his comedies (7 vols., 1843-'53). HOLBROOK, John Edwards, an American nat- uralist, born in Beaufort, S. C., in 1795, died in Norfolk, Mass., Sept. 8, 1871. He graduated at Brown university in 1815, studied medicine in Philadelphia, spent two years in Italy, Ger- many, and Paris, established himself in Charles- ton in 1822, and in 1824 was chosen professor of anatomy in the medical college of South Carolina. His most important work is the "American Herpetology, or a Description of Reptiles inhabiting the United States" (5 vols., Philadelphia, 1842). He began a work on " Southern Ichthyology," but finding the field too wide, he confined his labors to the fishes of South Carolina. Of this work ten numbers were published (Charleston, 1854 et seq.}, when the publication was stopped by the outbreak of the civil war. HOLCROFT, Thomas, an English dramatist, born in London, Dec. 10, 1745, died March 23, 1809. His father was a shoemaker who own- ed several horses, and added to his income by letting them. His mother dealt in greens and oysters. He passed his early life in Lon- don and in Berkshire, following the occupa-
