Scaliger, Joseph Justus

Scaliger, Joseph Justus son of Julius Caesar Scaliger, a learned critic, and his rival in learning and arrogance, was born, in 1540, at Agen, and was educated at the college of Bordeaux, and, finally, by his father and Turnebus. Languages he acquired with wonderful ease, and is said to have been master of no less than thirteen. His friends denominated him "an ocean of science," and "the masterpiece of nature." He died in 1609, professor of belles lettres at Leyden. His works, most of which are commentaries on the classics, are numerous. Of his other productions, one of the most valuable is the treatise De Emendatione Temporum.