FABRICIUS, John Albert, one of the most learned, laborious, and useful of bibliographers, was born at Leipsic on the 11th of November 1668. He lost his mother in 1674, and five years afterwards his father, Werner Fabricius, director of music in the church of St Paul at Leipsic, and author of several works, particularly Delicia Harmonice, published in 1657. The subject of this notice commenced his studies under his father, who, on his deathbed, recommended him to the care of Valentine Alberti. He studied during five years under Wencelaz Buhl, then for some time under J. S. Herrichen; and, in 1684, he was sent to Quedlinburg, there to continue his studies under Samuel Schmidt. From this period the Adversaria of Barthius formed his delight; and when, in 1687, he saw the first volume of Morhof's Polyhistor, the desire which he had already felt of devoting himself to letters greatly increased. Having returned to Leipsic in 1686, he was the same year admitted bachelor in philosophy, and, in the beginning of 1688, he took the degree of master in the same faculty; soon after which he published his first work, consisting of only one sheet in quarto. He then applied himself to the study of medicine, which, however, he relinquished for that of theology; and having gone to Hamburg in 1693, he proposed to travel into several countries, when the unexpected and not very agreeable information which now reached him, that the expense of his education had absorbed his whole patrimony, and even left him in debt to his trustee, forced him to abandon his project. He therefore remained at Hamburg, where J. F. Mayer employed him in the capacity of librarian. In 1696 he accompanied his patron to Sweden, and, on his return to Hamburg, not long afterwards, he competed for the chair of logic and philosophy. The suffrages being equally divided between Fabricius and Sebastian Edzardi, one of his opponents, recourse was had to chance, which decided in favour of Edzardi; but in 1699 Fabricius succeeded Vincent Placcius in the chair of eloquence and practical philosophy, after which he took the degree of doctor in theology at Kiel. From 1692 to 1697 he had preached regularly every Friday; but after he received his appointment of professor, he devoted the greater part of his time to the duties of that office. In 1701, J. F. Mayer having established himself at Greifswald, caused the chair of theology in that city to be offered to Fabricius, who, however, refused it on account of his health. But in 1708 he had accepted the situation of professor of theology, logic, and metaphysics, and was preparing to enter on his new office, when the senate of Hamburg induced him to remain, by adding to his charge as professor that of rector of the
school of St John, then held by his father-in-law, Schultz, whom Fabricius was very willing to assist in the discharge of his duties. Schultz died in 1709, but Fabricius retained the rectorship two years longer. In 1719 the landgrave of Hesse Cassel made him so advantageous an offer, that Fabricius was on the point of accepting it; but this time also the magistrates, by a seasonable increase of salary, prevailed on him to remain amongst them. An attempt was subsequently made to draw him to Wittenberg. But Fabricius refused to listen to the proposals which were made to him, and died at Hamburg on the 30th of April 1736. Besides the time which he had devoted to the duties of his office, Fabricius spent a considerable portion in maintaining an extensive correspondence, and in receiving the visits of foreigners; but he was so laborious that he was nevertheless the author of a great number of works, the list of which, according to Nicéron and Reimar, includes as many as a hundred and twenty-eight. It will be sufficient here, however, to indicate the most remarkable of these, which are, 1. Scriptorum recentia Decas, Hamburg, 1688, in 4to; 2. Decas Decadum, sive Plognarorum et Pseudonymorum centuria, 1689, in 4to; 3. Bibliotheca Latina, sive notitia Auctorum veterum Latinorum quorumcumque scripta ad nos pervenerunt, Hamburg, 1697, in 8vo, a work which was republished in an improved and amended form by J. A. Ernesti, Leipsic, 1773, in 3 vols. 8vo; 4. Bibliotheca Græca, sive notitia Scriptorum veterum Græcorum quorumcumque monumenta integra aut fragmenta edita extant, tum plerorumque e manuscript. ac deperditis, Hamburg, 1705-1728, in 14 vols. 4to, a work which has justly been denominated maximus antiquæ eruditionis thesaurus; 5. Centuria Fabriciana scriptis clarorum qui jam diem suum obierunt, 1705, in 8vo, and a second Century in 1721; 6. Bibliotheca Antiquaria, sive Introductio in notitiam Scriptorum qui antiquitates Hebraicas, Græcas, Romanas, et Christianas scriptis illustrarunt, 1713 and 1726, in 4to; 7. Centifolium Lutheranum, sive notitia literaria Scriptorum omnis generis de B. D. Luthero, 1728 and 1730, in 8vo; 8. Conspectus Thesauri Literarii in Italia, præmissam habens præter alia notitiam Diariorum Italice litterariorum thesaurorumque et corporum historicorum et academiarum, 1730, in 8vo; 9. Delectus argumentorum et syllabus Scriptorum qui veritatem religionis Christianæ adversus atheos, epicureos, deistas seu naturalistas, idolatras, Judeos et Muhammedanos lacerationibus suis asseruerunt, 1721, in 4to; 10. Salutaris lux Evangelii toti orbi per divinam gratiam exoriens, sive notitia historico-chronologica, litteraria ac geographica propagatorum per orbem totum Christianorum sacrorum, 1731, in 4to; 11. Hydrotheology, in German, 1734, in 4to; 12. Bibliotheca Latina media et infima Latinitatis, 1734-1756, in 5 vols. 8vo. The principal works edited by Fabricius were, 1. Vincentii Placcii theatrum anonymorum et pseudonymorum, Hamburg, in two vols. fol.; 2. Joannis Mobilonii iter Germanicum, et Joannis Launoi de Scholis celebribus a Carolo Magno et post Carolum Magnum in occidente instauratis liber, 1717, in 8vo; 3. Anselmi Bandurii Bibliotheca Nummaria, 1719, in 4to; 4. Danielis Georgii Morhofii Polyhistor litterarius, philosophicus, ac practicus, cum accessionibus Joannis Frikii et Joannis Molleri, 1732, in two vols. 4to; 5. Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica, 1718, in fol.; 6. Codex apocryphus Novi Testamenti collectus, castigatus, testimoniisque, censuris et animadversionibus illustratus, 1703, in two vols. 8vo; 7. Codex pseudopygraphus Veteris Testamenti collectus, castigatus, testimoniisque, censuris et animadversionibus illustratus, 1713 and 1722, in two vols. 8vo.