Janus Dousa Jr. (Latinized from Johan van der Does, also Janus Dousa filius, Janus II Dousa, Janus Dousa the younger, 16 January 1571 - 26 December 1596) was a Dutch classics scholar, Neo-Latin poet, historian and the second librarian of the young Leiden University (1593-1596). pp 121-122 Repertorium van geschiedschrijvers in Nederland 1500-1800 (1990), Nederlands Historisch Genootschap, Den Haag.

Biography Young years Dousa Jr., the eldest son and the first of ten children of Janus Dousa (Johan van der Does, Dousa Sr.), was born at Noordwijk but in 1573 his family moved to Leiden, where his father was in command during the second siege by the Spanish army (26 May–3 October 1574). He was taught the classics by his father and at a young age excelled in languages. He was then, for instance, already well versed in writing Neo-Latin poetry. Johannes Meursius called Junior "verum Gratiarum pullum" (a true chick of the Charites).Rabus 1704, PDF scan p. 16. Janus Dousa Jr. concluded his studies at Leiden University in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Roman law, mathematics and astronomy, with professors Peter TiaraPeter Tiara article on Dutch language Wikipedia. (Petreius Tiara, Pieter Tjeerts, Greek language), Bonaventura Vulcanius, Justus Lipsius, and Petrus Bertius in 1583. He assisted his father in literary studies and library activities. In 1594 he tutored Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange for a short time, when the prince was a student at Leiden University.. Also DBNL at Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 6 (1924).

In the summer of 1585, Dousa Sr. led an informal Dutch embassy to England to investigate a possible Anglo-Dutch union, later leading to the failed military mission of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and his nephew the poet Philip Sidney to the Netherlands. A small group of Leiden Neo-Latin poets, including Dousa Jr., his friend Dominicus Baudius and Georgius Benedicti Wertelos,Georgius Benedicti on Dutch wikipedia. visited London in the summer and autumn of 1585 and met with fellow English poets.. Section 7 The Counts in the National Gallery of Honour: Georgius Benedicti Wertelos’s Epitaphs and Petrus Scriverius’s Series

Librarian of Leiden University 1593-1596 When his father Dousa Sr. was appointed a member of the Hoge Raad in 1591, Junior assumed the duties of his father as a pro tem university librarian and succeeded him officially on 15 July 1593, at the age of 21, so becoming the second librarian of the young Leiden University. On a two-year journey through Europe including Germany and Poland with two of his brothers starting in 1594 he fell ill and died shortly after his return at The Hague in 1596, at the age of 25.

Reputation Notwithstanding his young age, Junior was considered a significant scholar, so that his portrait graces the frieze of the Bodleian Library at Oxford. In 1612, Leiden library curators commissioned five portraits of scholars considered outstanding, with Junior alongside his father Janus Dousa Sr., Justus Lipsius, Johannes Heurnius and Henricus Junius.Berkvens-Stevelinck, p. 29.

Leiden University's leading professor Joseph Justus Scaliger mourned the untimely death of his student: « Jamais je n’ai pleuré de mort que lui, mais je l’ai pleuré à bon escient. Il mourait tout en parlant ; il ne sentait point de mal. Le pauvre Janus était si bon et si simple ! Je pleuray huit jours durant comme une vieille, lorsqu'il fut mort.» (Translation from the French: I have never cried for anyone's death but his, but I cried for him with good reason. He died while talking; he felt no pain. Poor Janus was so kind and simple! I cried for eight days like an old woman when he died.) During his absence and after his decease, Petrus Bertius stood in for Janus Dousa Junior as the university librarian.

Quotations Source:Grateful acknowledgement: Dutch Wikipedian VVWint kindly helped with the translation of the following quotations from the original Latin. Remaining errors are not his fault.

Epigram for the historian Van Meteren, 1585 Latin epigram by Janus Dousa Jr. at age 14 as a tribute contribution to the Album Amicorum presented to the Flemish historian Emanuel van Meteren. Also at https://www.jstor.org/stable/42718599. Quote at page 185.

Rerum Coelestium, 1591 Source: Provides a hyperlink to the PDF scan of Jani Dousae filii Poemata [52.85 MB]. This book includes Rerum Coelestium Liber Primus, Silvae (genre Silvae), Elegiaca, Funera, Odae, Jambi, Erotopaegnion, Elogia, Epigrammata puerilia, and Epigrammata juvenilia. Quotation from the start of the Rerum Coelestium Liber Primus, p. 16, p. 46 in the scan.

Publications Janus Dousa Junior's publications include:

History Dousa Jr. wrote the first part ‘Batavia’ (pages 1–47), book 8 with an insert by his father presumably (403-410), book 9 and 10 with another insert by his father at pages 481-495 describing the Holland Count Dirk V. reprinted in The reprint is preceded by Grotius' Liber de antiquitate reipublicae Batavicae. Annales Hollandiae prosa oratione.

Classical authors' editions with commentaries Commentaries on the classical authors Catullus, Petronius, Propertius, Plautus and Tibullus.

Conjectanea et notæ in Catullum, Tibullum et Propertium (Conjectures and notes on Catullus, Tibullus and Propertius), following his edition of these poets, Leiden, 1592. Spicilegium in Petronii Arbitri Satyricon (Leftovers about the Satyricon by Petronius Arbiter). Lugd. Bat. [Leiden] 1594. 12mo. Reprinted several times. Iani Dousae Filii Animadversiones In M. Acci Plauti Comoedias (Remarks on the Comedies by M. Accius Plautus by Janus Dousa Jr.), in . Scan

Original Neo-Latin poetry 227 pages. 212 pages. Reprint of 1607 edition. Provides a hyperlink to the PDF scan of Jani Dousae filii Poemata [52.85 MB]. This book includes Rerum Coelestium Liber Primus, Silvae (genre Silvae), Elegiaca, Funera, Odae, Jambi, Erotopaegnion, Elogia, Epigrammata puerilia, and Epigrammata juvenilia.

Brittannicorum Carminum Sylva, Lugd. Bat. 1586. 4o. (following Janus Dousa Sr. Odae Brittannicae.)

in Farrago variorum carminum (Farrago of various poems).

Letters and Other Letters 1586, 1591-1596.. Manuscript Leiden University Library shelf mark VUL 101:97. Janus Dousa junior in 1592 curated the captions of Goltzius' portraits of the scholars Julius Caesar Scaliger and his son Josephus Justus Scaliger.. On page 155.

Secondary literature

. Part I: p 152, part II: p. 78.

Portraits Anonymous, circa 1612. Oil on panel 62.5x51 cm. UBL Icones 54 Shelfmark Icones 54. A copy of the family portrait by Roeloff Willemsz. van Culemborg, Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden. Probably painted on behalf of the Curators. Bust in an oval, facing left. Part of a collection of Dutch poets' portraits. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam SK-A-4558. Oil on metal. Published in engraving, in

References