HEINECCIUS, JOHANN GOTTLIEB, one of the most learned jurists of Germany, was born at Eisenberg in Saxony, Sept. 21, 1681. His life is totally unmarked by any
Heinsius. event or incident of importance. He held a chair first of philosophy and afterwards of law at Halle, from which in 1724 he was transferred to a similar chair at Franeker in West Friesland. He next migrated to Frankfort-on-the-Oder, where he remained till 1733, when he once more resumed his professorship at Halle, where he died in 1741.
A list of his numerous works will be found in the Bibliothèque Germanique, tom. ii., part 1st. The principal are—Fundamenta styli cultioris una cum Sylloge exemplorum, Halle, 1719, in 8vo; Elementa Philosophiæ Rationalis et Moralis, quibus præmissa Historia Philosophiæ, Franckfort, 1728, in 8vo; Antiquitatum Romanarum Jurisprudentiam illustrantium Syntagma juxta seriem Institutionum Justiniani, Halle, 1718, in 8vo; Elementa Juris Naturæ et Gentium, Halle, 1738, in 8vo; Prolectiones Academice in H. Grotii de Jure Belli ac Pacis libros, Berlin, 1744, in 8vo; Prolectiones Academice in Sam. Puffendorf de Officio Hominis et Civis, ibid. 1742, in 8vo; Historia Juris Civilis Romani ac Germanici, Halle, 1735, in 8vo; Elementa Juris Civilis secundum ordinem Institutionum, Franeker, 1725, in 8vo; Elementa Juris Civilis secundum ordinem Pandectarum, Franckfort, 1756, in 2 vols. 8vo; Elementa Juris Canonici, Amsterdam, 1743, in 8vo. The works of Heineccius were collected and published by Uhl, professor at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, under the title of Opera ad Universam Jurisprudentiam, Philosophiam, et Litteras humaniores pertinentia, Geneva, 1744–48, in 8 vols. 4to, reprinted in the same city, with additions, 1771, in 9 vols. 4to; and to these two editions a supplementary volume was at the same time added. After the works of Cujas, this collection is perhaps the most valuable and necessary to a student of jurisprudence. The commentary of Heineccius on the Julian and Papian laws would alone suffice to place him in the rank of the greatest jurisconsults; and if his authority has decreased somewhat in Germany, which we believe to be the case, it is because his successors, profiting by his researches, have been enabled to surpass him. We are also indebted to Heineccius for editions of the Jurisprudentia Romana et Attica, Leyden, 1738, in 3 vols. folio, with a learned preface prefixed to the first volume.