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HOFFMANN, JOHANN JOSEPH (1805-1878)

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 563 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HOFFMANN, JOHANN See also:JOSEPH (1805-1878) , See also:German See also:scholar, was See also:born at See also:Wurzburg on the 16th of See also:February 18o5. After studying at Wurzburg he went on the See also:stage in 1825; but owing to an accidental See also:meeting with the German traveller, Dr Philipp See also:Franz von See also:Siebold (1796-1866), in See also:July 183o, his See also:interest was diverted to See also:Oriental See also:philology. From Siebold he acquired the rudiments of See also:Japanese, and in See also:order to take See also:advantage of the instructions of Ko-ching-chang, a See also:Chinese teacher whom Siebold had brought See also:home with him, he made himself acquainted with See also:Malay, the only See also:language except Chinese which the Chinaman could understand. In a few years he was able to See also:supply the See also:translations for Siebold's Nippon; and the high See also:character of his See also:work soon attracted the See also:attention of older scholars. Stanislas See also:Julien invited him to See also:Paris; and he would probably have accepted the invitation, as a disagreement had broken out between him and Siebold, had not M. Baud, the Dutch colonial See also:minister, appointed him Japanese translator with a See also:salary of 1800 florins (£150). The Dutch authorities were slow in giving him further recognition; and he was too modest a See also:man successfully to urge his claims. It was not till after he had received the offer of the professorship of Chinese in See also:King's See also:College, See also:London, that the authorities made him See also:professor at See also:Leiden and the king allowed him a yearly See also:pension. In 1875 he was decorated with the order of the See also:Netherlands See also:Lion, and in 1877 he was elected corresponding member of the See also:Berlin See also:Academy. He died at the See also:Hague on the 23rd of See also:January 1878. Hoffmann's See also:chief work was his unfinished Japanese See also:Dictionary, begun in 1839 and afterwards continued by L. Serrurier.

Unable at first to procure the necessary type, he set himself to the cutting of punches, and even when the proper founts were obtained he had to See also:

act as his own compositor as far as Chinese and Japanese were concerned. His Japanese See also:grammar (Japanische Sprechlehre) was published in Dutch and See also:English in 1867, and in English and German in 1876. Of his See also:miscellaneous productions it is enough to mention " Japans Bezuge mit der koraischen Halbinsel and mit Schina " in Nippon, vii.; Yo-See also:San fa-Rok, L'See also:Art d'elever See also:les versa soieau Japon, See also:par Ouckaki Mourikouni (Paris, 1848) ; " See also:Die Heilkunde in See also:Japan" in Mittheil. d. See also:deutsch. Gesellsch. far Natur- and Volkerk. Ost-Asiens (1873–1874); and Japanische Studien (1878).

End of Article: HOFFMANN, JOHANN JOSEPH (1805-1878)

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