Julius Platzmann

Karl Julius Platzmann (born 31 January 1832 in Leipzig; died 6 September 1902 in Leipzig) was a German botanist, draftsman and philologist. His official author citation was "Platzm".

Life
Between 1858 and 1864, Platzmann lived in Paranagua (Brazil), in order to study the local flora and fauna.

In Germany, Platzmann’s lifestyle was quite different — he was diligent in the extreme, and described himself almost as a recluse:

I was able to read with diligence, because I never go out in company or to a club, never go to the theatre, never go to a concert, never go to a restaurant [...], never travel – with minimal exceptions –, am at home all year round, go to bed at 10 o’clock, even if I don’t get up early, but I am with my cause all day long and I very much hate it when someone visits me and takes me out of my circle of thoughts. [Translated from Platzmann’s original German by Van Hal]

His place in the history of linguistics is due to this later period and is somewhat ironically owed to a passion for native languages which arose only once he had returned to Europe, where he began collecting books about Native American languages written by missionaries. He published a catalog of his collection in 1879.

Facsimiles
Later in his life, Platzmann published facsimiles of his collected books, beginning in 1874 with a facsimile of the Tupi grammar of 1595 by the Jesuit José de Anchieta. Facsimile editions of historical South American language books followed and eventually included the Carib, Arawak, Tupi, Guarani, Araucano, Quechua-Aymará and the Mexican Nahuatl (Aztec) languages. The incredible fidelity of the facsimiles is demonstrated below by two sample pages from Ludovico Bertonio's vocabulary of the Aymara language. On the left is the original, a scan of the same page in the facsimile is on the right.

Platzmann himself dedicated an entire book to the topic of why he created facsimiles.

Legacy
Platzmann was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1886.

His library of grammars, catechisms, and materials about American languages was purchased from Teubner and subsequently sold by Otto Harrassowitz.

Selected bibliography

 * Aus Der Bai Von Paranagu. [1872] 10.5962/bhl.title.61919 Nabu Press 2010. ISBN 978-1145717763.
 * Glossar feurländischer Sprachen. [1882] Reprint. BiblioBazaar 2008, ISBN 978-0559512940.
 * Wesshalb Ich Neudrucke Der Alten Amerikanischen Grammatiker Veranlasst Habe. [1893] Reprint. Nabu Press 2010, ISBN 978-1144133229.
 * Amerikanisch-Asiatische Etymologien Via Behringstrasse 'From the East to the West. Nabu Press 2010, ISBN 978-1145002753.
 * Der Sprachstoff Der Brasilianischen Grammatik Des Luis Figueira von Julius Platzmann und Luis Figueira. Nabu Press 2010.
 * Grammatik der brasilianischen Sprache, mit Zugrundelegung des Anchieta. (1874).