CASAUBON, ISAAC DE, was born at Geneva, on the 18th February 1559, his family, which was originally from Dauphiné, having taken refuge in that city after embracing the reformed religion. He received the rudiments of his education from his father, who was latterly minister of Crest; and his progress was so rapid that at the age of nine he spoke Latin with correctness and fluency. He remained under the paternal roof till he was nineteen, when he entered upon his academical course at Geneva; and having devoted himself to the study of jurisprudence, theology, and the oriental languages, he was in 1582 found qualified to succeed his master, M. Portus, in the chair of Greek. He married Florence, daughter of M. Etienne; and, in 1596, accepted the chair of Greek and belles-lettres at Montpellier, where, however, he remained only two years, because the salary which had been promised him was ill paid. Henry IV. informed of his merit, now called him to Paris, and gave him a situation similar to that which he had held in Languedoc. But his religion, the jealousy of the other professors, and perhaps also his untractable temper, produced misunderstandings, and occasioned inconveniences, for which, however, he was amply indemnified by being appointed librarian to the king, with a salary of four hundred francs, which was a considerable sum at that period. He was one of the commissioners at the conference of Fontainebleau, between Cardinal Duperron and Duplessis Mornai, and gave his opinion in favour of the former and against the latter. It is known, indeed, that on various important points he dissented from the tenets of the reformed church; and he was even suspected of a disposition to reconcile himself to the ancient religion; a suspicion which was strengthened when his son embraced the Romish religion, and became a Capuchin. After the death of Henry IV. Casaubon went to England in the suite of Sir Henry Wotton, ambassador extraordinary of King James I. and was received with great favour by that monarch, who gave him two prebends, one at Canterbury and the other at Westminster, and, besides, conferred on him a pension of L.200. Casaubon now established himself definitively in England, and died at London on the 1st of July 1614. He was buried at Westminster, where a monument was erected to his memory. The Protestants of France always doubted the sincerity of his attachment to their party: and Pierre Dumoulin, writing to Montague, bishop of Bath, said that Casaubon had a great inclination towards popery; that he only adhered to the reformed religion by reason of his doubts regarding a small number of articles; and that he would end by changing his religion; a prediction which, however, was not verified. Nevertheless, Casaubon was an able theologian, a scholar of the first order, a good translator, and an excellent critic. Pithou, De Thou, Heinsius, Grævius, and other learned men, have all given him the same character. Cardinal Duperron said of him that, in the belles-lettres, he knew more than all the Jesuits put together, which was manifestly an exaggeration; and added, that when he spoke French, he appeared to be a peasant, but when he spoke Latin, he seemed to employ his native tongue, which was not far from the truth. His Latin, however,
is deformed by Gallicisms, and his historical works are not free from inaccuracies. A complete list of his works would of itself fill several columns. The principal are, 1. In Diogenem Laertium Notae, 1583, 8vo; 2. Polyani Stratumatum, Gr. et Lat. cum Notis Casauboni, Lyons, 1589, 8vo; 3. Aristotelis Opera, Gr. et Lat. Lyons, 1590; 4. Theophrasti Characteres, Gr. et Lat. Lyons, 1622; 5. Suctonii Opera, cum animadversionibus, Paris, 1606, 4to; 6. Persii Satyræ, cum Comment. Paris, 1608, 8vo; 7. Polybii Opera, Gr. et Lat. Paris, 1609; 8. De Satyrica Græcorum Poësi et Romanorum Satyra, libri duo, Paris, 1605, 8vo; 9. Exercitationes in Baronium, London, 1614, folio; 10. De Libertate Ecclesiastica, liber singularis, 1607; 11. Ad Frontonem Ducæum Epistola, London, 1611; 12. Casauboni Epistola, the best edition of which is that of Ameloveen, Rotterdam, 1709.