REISKE, JOHANN JAKOB

born Dec. 25, 1716, Zrbig, Prussia died Aug. 14, 1774, Leipzig preeminent 18th-century European scholar of Arabic literature whose commentary to his Abulfedae Annales Moslemici, 5 vol. (1754; Abulfeda Muslim Annals), laid the foundation for Arabic historical scholarship. Reiske was esteemed by his sovereign Frederick the Great, by the German dramatist and critic Gotthold Lessing, and by many foreign scholars, but seems to have provoked animosity from patrons and potential colleagues and was confined to poorly paid literary hackwork until given a rectorate at Leipzig (1758). Reiske was as steeped in Greek literature, including Byzantine, as he was in Arabic and prepared many voluminous editions, among them one of Plutarch (177479). His Greek commentaries, however, are considered to outweigh the editions in importance. He is also credited with establishing the science of Arabic numismatics.