Articles in This Slice:
COSWAY, RICHARD COTTER
COTA DE MAGUAQUE, RODRIGO COTTESWOLD HILLS
COTE-D'OR COTTET, CHARLES
COTES, ROGER COTTII REGNUM
COTES-DU-NORD COTTIN, MARIE
COTGRAVE, RANDLE COTTINGTON, FRANCIS COTTINGTON
COTHEN COTTON (Anglo-Indian administrators)
COTMAN, JOHN SELL COTTON, CHARLES
COTONEASTER COTTON, GEORGE EDWARD LYNCH
COTOPAXI COTTON, JOHN
COTRONE COTTON, SIR ROBERT BRUCE
COTTA (German publishers) COTTON
COTTA, BERNHARD VON COTTON MANUFACTURE
COTTA, GAIUS AURELIUS COTTON-SPINNING MACHINERY
COTTABUS COTYS
COTTBUS COUCH, DARIUS NASH
COTTENHAM, CHARLES PEPYS COUCY, LE CHATELAIN DE
COSWAY, RICHARD (c. 1742-1821), English miniature painter, was baptized
in 1742; his father was master of Blundell's school, Tiverton, where
Cosway was educated, and his uncle mayor of that town. He it was who, in
conjunction with the boy's godfather, persuaded the father to allow
Richard to proceed to London before he was twelve years old, to take
lessons in drawing, and undertook to support him there. On his arrival,
the youthful artist won the first prize given by the newly founded
Society of Arts, of the money value of five guineas. He went to Thomas
Hudson for his earliest instruction, but remained with him only a few
months, and then attended William Shipley's drawing class, where he
remained until he began to work on his own account in 1760. He was one
of the earliest members of the Royal Academy, Associate in 1770 and
Royal Academician in 1771. His success in miniature painting is said to
have been started by his clever portrait of Mrs Fitzherbert, which gave
great satisfaction to the prince of Wales, and brought Cosway his
earliest great patron. He speedily became one of the most popular
artists of the day, and his residence at Schomberg House, Pall Mall, was
a well-known aristocratic rendezvous. In 1791 he removed to Stratford
Place, where he lived in a state of great magnificence till 1821, when
after selling most of the treasures he had accumulated he went to reside
in Edgware Road. He died on the 4th of July 1821, when driving in a
carriage with his friend Miss Udney. He was buried in Marylebone New
church.
He married in 1781 Maria Hadfield, who survived him many years, and died
in Italy in January 1838, in a school for girls which she had founded,
and which she had attached to an important religious order devoted to
the cause of female education, known as the Dame Inglesi. She had been
created a baroness of the Empire on account of her devotion to female
education by the emperor Francis I. in 1834. Her college still exists,
and in it are preserved many of the things which had belonged to her and
her husband.
Cosway had one child who died young. She is the subject of one of his
most celebrated engravings. He painted miniatures of very many members
of the royal family, and of the leading persons who formed the court of
the prince regent. Perhaps his most beautiful work is his miniature of
Madame du Barry, painted in 1791, when that lady was residing in Bruton
Street, Berkeley Square. This portrait, together with many other
splendid works by Cosway, came into the collection of Mr J. Pierpont
Morgan. There are many miniatures by this artist in the royal collection
at Windsor Castle, at Belvoir Castle and in other important collections.
His work is of great charm and of remarkable purity, and he is certainly
the most brilliant miniature painter of the 18th century.
For a full account of the artist and his wife, see _Richard Cosway,
R.A._, by G. C. Williamson (1905). (G. C. W.)
COTA DE MAGUAQUE, RODRIGO (d. c. 1498), Spanish poet, who flourished
towards the end of the 15th century, was born at Toledo. Little is known
of him save that he was of Jewish origin. The _Coplas de Mingo Revulgo_,
the _Coplas del Provincial_, and the first act of the _Celestina_ have
been ascribed to him on insufficient grounds. He is undoubtedly the
author of the _Dialogo entre el amor y un viejo_, a striking dramatic
poem first printed in the _Cancionero general_ of 1511, and of a
burlesque epithalamium written in 1472 or later. He abjured Judaism
about the year 1497, and is believed to have died shortly afterwards.
See "Epithalame burlesque," edited by R. Foulche-Delbosc, in the
_Revue hispanique_ (Paris, 1894), i. 69-72; A. Bonilla y San Martin,
_Anales de la literatura espanola_ (Madrid, 1904), pp. 164-167.
COTE-D'OR, a department of eastern France, formed of the northern region
of the old province of Burgundy, bounded N. by the department of Aube,
N.E. by Haute-Marne, E. by Haute-Saone and Jura, S. by Saone-et-Loire,
and W. by Nievre and Yonne. Area, 3392 sq. m. Pop. (1906) 357,959. A
chain of hills named the Plateau de Langres runs from north-east to
south-west through the centre of the department, separating the basin of
the Seine from that of the Saone, and forming a connecting-link between
the Cevennes and the Vosges mountains. Extending southward from Dijon is
a portion of this range which, on account of the excellence of its
vineyards, bears the name of Cote-d'Or, whence that of the department.
The north-west portion of the department is occupied by the calcareous
and densely-wooded district of Chatillonais, the south-west by spurs of
the granitic chain of Morvan, while a wide plain traversed by the Saone
extends over the eastern region. The Chatillonais is watered by the
Seine, which there takes its rise, and by the Ource, both fed largely by
the _douix_ or abundant springs characteristic of Burgundy. The Armancon
and other affluents of the Yonne, and the Arroux, a tributary of the
Loire, water the south-west.
The climate of Cote-d'Or is temperate and healthy; the rainfall is
abundant west of the central range, but moderate, and, in places,
scarce, in the eastern plain. Husbandry flourishes, the wealth of the
department lying chiefly in its vineyards, especially those of the
Cote-d'Or, which comprise the three main groups of Beaune, Nuits and
Dijon, the latter the least renowned of the three. The chief cereals are
wheat, oats and barley; potatoes, hops, beetroot, rape-seed, colza and a
small quantity of tobacco are also produced. Sheep and cattle-raising is
carried on chiefly in the western districts. The department has
anthracite mines and produces freestone, lime and cement. The
manufactures include iron, steel, nails, tools, machinery and other iron
goods, paper, earthenware, tiles and bricks, morocco leather goods,
biscuits and mustard, and there are flour-mills, distilleries, oil and
vinegar works and breweries. The imports of the department are
inconsiderable, coal alone being of any importance; there is an active
export trade in wine, brandy, cereals and live stock and in manufactured
goods. The Paris-Lyon-Mediterranee railway serves the department, its
main line passing through Dijon. The canal of Burgundy, connecting the
Saone with the Yonne, has a length of 94 m. in the department, while
that from the Marne to the Saone has a length of 24 m.
Cote-d'Or is divided into the arrondissements of Dijon, Beaune,
Chatillon and Semur, with 36 cantons and 717 communes. It forms the
diocese of the bishop of Dijon, and part of the archiepiscopal province
of Lyons and of the 8th military region. Dijon is the seat of the
educational circumscription (_academie_) and court of appeal to which
the department is assigned. The more noteworthy places are Dijon, the
capital, Beaune, Chatillon, Semur, Auxonne, Flavigny and Citeaux, all
separately treated. St Jean de Losne, at the extremity of the Burgundy
canal, is famous for its brave and successful resistance in 1636 to an
immense force of Imperialists. Chateauneuf has a chateau of the 15th
century, St Seine-l'Abbaye, a fine Gothic abbey church, and Saulieu, a
Romanesque abbey church of the 11th century. The chateau of Bussy
Rabutin (at Bussy-le-Grand), founded in the 12th century, has an
interesting collection of pictures made by Roger de Rabutin, comte de
Bussy, who also rebuilt the chateau. Montbard, the birthplace of the
naturalist Buffon, has a keep of the 14th century and other remains of a
castle of the dukes of Burgundy. The remarkable Renaissance chapel
(1536) of Pagny-le-Chateau, belonging to the chateau destroyed in 1768,
contains the tomb of Jean de Vienne (d. 1455) and that of Jean de Longwy
(d. 1460) and Jeanne de Vienne (d. 1472), with alabaster effigies. At
Fontenay, near Marmagne, a paper-works occupies the buildings of a
well-preserved Cistercian abbey of the 12th century. At Vertault there
are remains of a theatre and other buildings marking the site of the
Gallo-Roman town of Vertilium.
COTES, ROGER (1682-1716), English mathematician and philosopher, was
born on the 10th of July 1682 at Burbage, Leicestershire, of which place
his father, the Rev. Robert Cotes, was rector. He was educated at
Leicester school, and afterward at St Paul's school, London. Proceeding
to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1699, he obtained a fellowship in
1705, and in the following year was appointed Plumian professor of
astronomy and experimental philosophy in the university of Cambridge. He
took orders in 1713; and the same year, at the request of Dr Richard
Bentley, he published the second edition of Newton's Principia with an
original preface. He died on the 5th of June 1716, leaving unfinished a
series of elaborate researches on optics, and a large amount of
unpublished manuscript. He contributed two memoirs to the _Philosophical
Transactions_, one, "Logometria," which discusses the calculation of
logarithms and certain applications of the infinitesimal calculus, the
other, a "Description of the great fiery meteor seen on March 6th,
1716." After his death his papers were collected and published by his
cousin and successor in the Plumian chair, Dr Robert Smith, under the
title _Harmonia Mensurarum_ (1722). This work included the "Logometria,"
the trigonometrical theorem known as "Cotes' Theorem on the Circle" (see
TRIGONOMETRY), his theorem on harmonic means, subsequently developed by
Colin Maclaurin, and a discussion of the curves known as "Cotes'
Spirals," which occur as the path of a particle described under the
influence of a central force varying inversely as the cube of the
distance. In 1738 Dr Robert Smith published Cotes' _Hydrostatical and
Pneumatical Lectures_, a work which was held in great estimation. The
exceptional genius of Cotes earned encomiums from both his
contemporaries and successors; Sir Isaac Newton said, "If Mr Cotes had
lived, we should have known something."
COTES-DU-NORD, a maritime department of the north-west of France, formed
in 1790 from the northern part of the province of Brittany, and bounded
N. by the English Channel, E. by the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, S.
by Morbihan, and W. by Finistere. Pop. (1906) 611,506. Area, 2786 sq. m.
In general conformation, Cotes-du-Nord is an undulating plateau
including in its more southerly portion three well-marked ranges of
hills. A granitic chain, the Monts du Mene, starting in the south-east
of the department runs in a north-westerly direction, forming the
watershed between the rivers running respectively to the Channel and the
Atlantic Ocean. Towards its western extremity this chain bifurcates to
form the Montagnes Noires in the south-west and the Montagne d'Arree in
the west of the department. The rivers of the Channel slope are the
Rance, Arguenon, Gouessan, Gouet, Trieux, Treguier and Leguer, while the
Blavet, Meu, Oust and Aulne belong to the southern slope. Off the coast,
which is steep, rocky and much indented, are the Sept-Iles, Brehat and
other small islands. The principal bays are those of St Malo and St
Brieuc.
The climate is mild and not subject to extremes; in the west it is
especially humid. Agriculture is more successful on the coast, where
seaweed can be used as a fertilizer, than in the interior. Cereals are
largely grown, wheat, oats and buck-wheat being the chief crops.
Potatoes, flax, mangels, apples, plums, cherries and honey are also
produced. Pasture and various kinds of forage are abundant, and there is
a large output of milk and butter. The horses of the department are in
repute. It produces slate, building-stone, lime and china-clay.
Flour-mills, saw-mills, sardine factories, tanneries, iron-works,
manufactories of polish, boat-building yards, and rope-works employ many
of the inhabitants, and cloth, agricultural implements and nails are
manufactured. The chief imports are coal, wood and salt. Exports include
agricultural products (eggs, butter, vegetables, &c.), horses, flax and
fish. The chief commercial ports are Le Legue and Paimpol; and Paimpol
also equips a large fleet for the Icelandic fisheries. The coast fishing
is important and large quantities of sardines are preserved. The
department is served by the Ouest-Etat railway; its chief waterway is
the canal from Nantes to Brest which traverses it for 73 m.
Cotes-du-Nord is divided into the five arrondissements of St Brieuc,
Dinan, Guingamp, Lannion and Loudeac, which contain 48 cantons and 390
communes. Bas Breton is spoken in the arrondissements of Guingamp and
Lannion, and in part of those of Loudeac and St Brieuc. The department
belongs to the ecclesiastical province, the academie (educational
division), and the appeal court of Rennes, and in the region of the X.
army corps. St Brieuc, Dinan, Guingamp, Lamballe, Paimpol and Treguier,
the more noteworthy towns, are separately treated. Extensive remains of
an abbey of the Premonstratensian order, dating chiefly from the 13th
century, exist at Kerity; and Lehon has remains of a priory, which dates
from the same period. The department is rich in interesting churches,
among which those of Ploubezre (12th, 14th and 16th centuries),
Perros-Guirec (12th century), Plestin-les-Greves (16th century) and
Lanleff (12th century) may be mentioned. The church of St Mathurin at
Moncontour, which is a celebrated place of pilgrimage, contains fine
stained glass of the 16th century, and the mural paintings of the chapel
of Kermaria-an-Isquit near Plouha, which belongs to the 13th and 14th
centuries, are celebrated. Near Lannion (pop. 5336), itself a
picturesque old town, is the ruined castle of Tonquedec, built in the
14th century and sometimes known as "the Pierrefonds of Brittany," owing
to its resemblance to the more famous castle. At Corseul are a temple
and other Roman remains.
COTGRAVE, RANDLE (?-1634), English lexicographer, came of a Cheshire
family, and was educated at Cambridge, entering St John's College in
1587. He became secretary to Lord Burghley, and in 1611 published his
French-English dictionary (2nd ed., 1632), a work of real historical
importance in lexicography, and still valuable in spite of such errors
as were due to contemporary want of exact scholarship.
COTHEN, or KOTHEN, a town of Germany, in the duchy of Anhalt on the
Ziethe, at the junction of several railway lines, 42 m. N.W. of Leipzig
by rail. Pop. (1905) 22,978. It consists of an old and a new town with
four suburbs. The former palace of the dukes of Anhalt-Cothen, in the
old town, has fine gardens and contains collections of pictures and
coins, the famous ornithological collection of Johann Friedrich Naumann
(1780-1857), and a library of some 20,000 volumes. Of the churches the
Lutheran Jakobskirche (called the cathedral), a Gothic building with
some fine old stained glass, is noteworthy. Besides the usual classical
and modern schools (Gymnasium and Realschule) Cothen possesses a
technical institute, a school of gardening and a school of forestry. The
industries include iron-founding and the manufacture of agricultural and
other machinery, malt, beet-root sugar, leather, spirits, &c.; a
tolerably active trade is carried on in grain, wool, potatoes and
vegetables. Among others, there is a monument to Sebastian Bach, who was
music director here from 1717 to 1723.
In the 10th century Cothen was a Slav settlement, which was captured and
destroyed by the German king Henry I. in 927. By the 12th century it had
secured town rights and become a considerable centre of trade in
agricultural produce. In 1300 it was burned by the margrave of Meissen.
In 1547 the town was taken from its prince, Wolfgang (a cadet of the
house of Anhalt), who had joined the league of Schmalkalden, and given
by the emperor Charles V., with the rest of the prince's possessions, to
the Spanish general and painter, Felipe Ladron y Guevara (1510-1563),
from whom it was, however, soon repurchased. Hahnemann, the founder of
homoeopathy, lived and worked in Cothen. From 1603 to 1847 Cothen was
the capital of the principality, later duchy, of Anhalt-Cothen.
COTMAN, JOHN SELL (1782-1842), English landscape-painter and etcher, son
of a well-to-do silk mercer, was born at Norwich on the 16th of May
1782. He showed a talent for art and was sent to London to study, where
he became the friend of Turner, T. Girtin and other artists. He first
exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1800. In 1807 he went back to Norwich
and joined the Norwich Society of Artists, of which in 1811 he became
president. In 1825 he was made an associate of the Society of Painters
in Water-colours; in 1834 he was appointed drawing-master at King's
College, London; and in 1836 he was elected a member of the Institute of
British Architects. He died in London on the 24th of July 1842. Cotman's
work was not considered of much importance in his own day, and his
pictures only procured small prices; but he now ranks as one of the
great figures of the Norwich school. He was a fine draughtsman, and a
remarkable painter both in oil and water-colour. One of his paintings is
in the National Gallery. His fine architectural etchings, published in a
series of volumes, the result of tours in Norfolk and Normandy, are
valuable records of his interest in archaeology. He married early in
life, and had five children, his sons, Miles Edmund (1810-1858) and
Joseph John (1814-1878), both becoming landscape-painters of merit; and
his younger brother Henry's son, Frederic George Cotman (b. 1850), the
water-colour artist, continued the family reputation.
COTONEASTER, a genus of the rose family (Rosaceae), containing about
twenty species of shrubs and small trees, natives of Europe, North
Africa and temperate Asia. C. _vulgaris_ is native on the limestone
cliffs of the Great Orme in North Wales. Several species are grown in
shrubberies and borders, or as wall plants, mainly for their clusters of
bright red or yellow berry-like fruits. Plants are easily raised by
seeds, cuttings or layers, and grow well in ordinary soil.
COTOPAXI, a mountain of the Andes, in Ecuador, South America, 35 m.
S.S.E. of Quito, remarkable as the loftiest active volcano in the world.
The earliest outbursts on record took place in 1532 and 1533; and since
then the eruptions have been both numerous and destructive. Among the
most important are those of 1744, 1746, 1766, 1768 and 1803. In 1744 the
thunderings of the volcano were heard at Honda on the Rio Magdalena,
about 500 m. distant; in 1768 the quantity of ashes ejected was so great
that it covered all the lesser vegetation as far as Riobamba; and in
1803 Humboldt reports that at the port of Guayaquil, 160 m. from the
crater, he heard the noise day and night like continued discharges of a
battery. There were considerable outbursts in 1851, 1855, 1856, 1864 and
1877. In 1802 Humboldt made a vain attempt to scale the cone, and
pronounced the enterprise impossible; and the failure of Jean Baptiste
Boussingault in 1831, and the double failure of M. Wagner in 1858,
seemed to confirm his opinion. In 1872, however, Dr Wilhelm Reiss
succeeded on the 27th and 28th of November in reaching the top; in the
May of the following year the same feat was accomplished by Dr A.
Stubel, and he was followed by T. Wolf in 1877, M. von Thielmann in 1878
and Edward Whymper in 1880.
Cotopaxi is frequently described as one of the most beautiful mountain
masses of the world, rivalling the celebrated Fujiyama of Japan in its
symmetry of outline, but overtopping it by more than 7000 ft. It is more
than 15,000 ft. higher than Vesuvius, over 7000 ft. higher than
Teneriffe, and nearly 2000 ft. higher than Popocatepetl. Its slope,
according to Orton, is 30 deg., according to Wagner 29 deg., the
north-western side being slightly steeper than the south-eastern. The
apical angle is 122 deg. 30'. The snowfall is heavier on the eastern
side of the cone which is permanently covered, while the western side is
usually left bare, a phenomenon occasioned by the action of the moist
trade winds from the Atlantic. Its height according to Whymper is 19,613
ft., and its crater is 2300 ft. in diameter from N. to S., 1650 ft. from
E. to W., and has an approximate depth of 1200 ft. It is bordered by a
rim of trachytic rock, forming a black coronet above the greyish
volcanic dust and sand which covers its sides to a great depth. Whymper
found snow and ice under this sand. On the southern slope, at a height
of 15,059 ft., is a bare cone of porphyritic andesite called _El
Picacho_, "the beak," or _Cabeza del Inca_, "the Inca's head," with dark
cliffs rising fully 1000 ft., which according to tradition is the
original summit of the volcano blown off at the first-known eruption of
1532. The summit of Cotopaxi is usually enveloped in clouds; and even in
the clearest month of the year it is rarely visible for more than eight
or ten days. Its eruptions produce enormous quantities of pumice, and
deep layers of mud, volcanic sand and pumice surround it on the plateau.
Of the air currents about and above Cotopaxi, Wagner says (_Naturw.
Reisen im trop. Amerika_, p. 514): "On the Tacunga Plateau, at a height
of 8000 Paris feet, the prevailing direction of the wind is meridional,
usually from the south in the morning, and frequently from the north in
the evening; but over the summit of Cotopaxi, at a height of 18,000 ft.,
the north-west wind always prevails throughout the day. The
gradually-widening volcanic cloud continually takes a south-eastern
direction over the rim of the crater; at a height, however, of about
21,000 ft. it suddenly turns to the north-west, and maintains that
direction till it reaches a height of at least 28,000 ft. There are thus
from the foot of the volcano to the highest level attained by its
smoke-cloud three quite distinct regular currents of wind."
COTRONE (anc. _Croto, Crotona_), a seaport and episcopal see on the E.
coast of Calabria, Italy, in the province of Catanzaro, 37 m. E.N.E. of
Catanzaro Marina by rail, 143 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) town,
7917; commune, 9545. It has a castle erected by the emperor Charles V.
and a small harbour, which even in ancient times was not good, but
important as the only one between Taranto and Reggio. It exports a
considerable quantity of oranges, olives and liquorice.
COTTA, the name of a family of German publishers, intimately connected
with the history of German literature. The Cottas were of noble Italian
descent, and at the time of the Reformation the family was settled in
Eisenach in Thuringia.
JOHANN GEORG COTTA (1) (1631-1692), the founder of the publishing house
of J. G. Cotta, married in 1659 the widow of the university bookseller,
Philipp Braun, in Tubingen, and took over the management of his
business, thus establishing the firm which was subsequently associated
with Cotta's name. On his death, in 1692, the undertaking passed to his
only son, Johann Georg (2); and on his death in 1712, to the latter's
eldest son, also named Johann Georg (3), while the second son, Johann
Friedrich (see below), became the distinguished theologian.
Although the eldest son of Johann Georg (3), Christoph Friedrich Cotta
(1730-1807), established a printing-house to the court at Stuttgart, the
business languished, and it was reserved to his youngest son, JOHANN
FRIEDRICH, FREIHERR COTTA VON COTTENDORF (1764-1832), who was born at
Stuttgart on the 27th of April 1764, to restore the fortunes of the
firm. He attended the gymnasium of his native place, and was originally
intended to study theology. He, however, entered the university of
Tubingen as a student of mathematics and law, and after graduating spent
a considerable time in Paris, studying French and natural science, and
mixing with distinguished literary men. After practising as an advocate
in one of the higher courts, Cotta, in compliance with his father's
earnest desire, took over the publishing business at Tubingen. He began
in December 1787, and laboured incessantly to acquire familiarity with
all the details. The house connexions rapidly extended; and, in 1794,
the _Allgemeine Zeitung_, of which Schiller was to be editor, was
planned. Schiller was compelled to withdraw on account of his health;
but his friendship with Cotta deepened every year, and was a great
advantage to the poet and his family. Cotta awakened in Schiller so warm
an attachment that, as Heinrich Doring tells us in his life of Schiller
(1824), when a bookseller offered him a higher price than Cotta for the
copyright of _Wallenstein_, the poet firmly declined it, replying "Cotta
deals honestly with me, and I with him." In 1795 Schiller and Cotta
founded the _Horen_, a periodical very important to the student of
German literature. The poet intended, by means of this work, to infuse
higher ideas into the common lives of men, by giving them a nobler human
culture, and "to reunite the divided political world under the banner of
truth and beauty." The _Horen_ brought Goethe and Schiller into intimate
relations with each other and with Cotta; and Goethe, while regretting
that he had already promised _Wilhelm Meister_ to another publisher,
contributed the _Unterhaltung deutscher Ausgewanderten_, the _Roman
Elegies_ and a paper on Literary Sansculottism. Fichte sent essays from
the first, and the other brilliant German authors of the time were also
represented. In 1798 the _Allgemeine Zeitung_ appeared at Tubingen,
being edited first by Posselt and then by Huber. Soon the editorial
office of the newspaper was transferred to Stuttgart, in 1803 to Ulm,
and in 1810 to Augsburg; it is now in Munich. In 1799 Cotta entered on
his political career, being sent to Paris by the Wurttemberg estates as
their representative. Here he made friendships which proved very
advantageous for the _Allgemeine Zeitung_. In 1801 he paid another visit
to Paris, also in a political capacity, when he carefully studied
Napoleon's policy, and treasured up many hints which were useful to him
in his literary undertakings. He still, however, devoted most of his
attention to his own business, and, for many years, made all the entries
into the ledger with his own hand. He relieved the tedium of almost
ceaseless toil by pleasant intercourse with literary men. With Schiller,
Huber, and Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel (1736-1809) he was on terms of the
warmest friendship; and he was also intimate with Herder, Schelling,
Fichte, Richter, Voss, Hebel, Tieck, Therese Huber, Matthisson, the
brothers Humboldt, Johann Muller, Spittler and others, whose works he
published in whole or in part. In the correspondence of Alexander von
Humboldt with Varnhagen von Ense we see the familiar relations in which
the former stood to the Cotta family. In 1795 he published the
_Politischen Annalen_ and the _Jahrbucher der Baukunde_, and in 1798 the
_Damenalmanach_, along with some works of less importance. In 1807 he
issued the _Morgenblatt_, to which Schorn's _Kunstblatt_ and Menzel's
_Literaturblatt_ were afterwards added. In 1810 he removed to Stuttgart;
and from that time till his death he was loaded with honours. State
affairs and an honourable commission from the German booksellers took
him to the Vienna congress; and in 1815 he was deputy-elect at the
Wurttemberg diet. In 1819 he became representative of the nobility; then
he succeeded to the offices of member of committee and (1824)
vice-president of the Wurttemberg second chamber. He was also appointed
Prussian _Geheimrat_, and knight of the order of the Wurttemberg crown;
King William I. of Wurttemberg having already revived the ancient
nobility in his family by granting him the patent of Freiherr (Baron)
Cotta von Cottendorf. Meanwhile such publications as the _Polytechnische
Journal_, the _Hesperus_, the _Wurttembergische Jahrbucher_, the
_Hertha_, the _Ausland_, and the _Inland_ issued from the press. In
1828-1829 appeared the famous correspondence between Schiller and
Goethe. Cotta was an unfailing friend of young struggling men of talent.
In addition to his high standing as a publisher, he was a man of great
practical energy, which flowed into various fields of activity. He was a
scientific agriculturist, and promoted many reforms in farming. He was
the first Wurttemberg landholder to abolish serfdom on his estates. In
politics he was throughout his life a moderate liberal. In 1824 he set
up a steam printing press in Augsburg, and, about the same time, founded
a literary institute at Munich. In 1825 he started steamboats, for the
first time, on Lake Constance, and introduced them in the following year
on the Rhine. In 1828 he was sent to Berlin, on an important commission,
by Bavaria and Wurttemberg, and was there rewarded with orders of
distinction at the hands of the three kings. He died on the 29th of
December 1832 leaving a son and a daughter as coheirs.
His son, JOHANN GEORG (4), FREIHERR COTTA VON COTTENDORF (1796-1863),
succeeded to the management of the business on the death of his father,
and was materially assisted by his sister's husband, Freiherr Hermann
von Reischach. He greatly extended the connexions of the firm by the
purchase, in 1839, of the publishing business of G. J. Goschen in
Leipzig, and in 1845 of that of Vogel in Landshut; while, in 1845,
"Bible" branches were established at Stuttgart and Munich. He was
succeeded by his younger son, Karl, and by his nephew (the son of his
sister), Hermann Albert von Reischach. Under their joint partnership,
the before-mentioned firms in Leipzig and Landshut, and an artistic
establishment in Munich passed into other hands, leaving on the death of
Hermann Albert von Reischach, in 1876, Karl von Cotta the sole
representative of the firm, until his death in 1888. In 1889 the firm of
J. G. Cotta passed by purchase into the hands of Adolf and Paul Kroner,
who took others into partnership. In 1899 the business was converted
into a limited liability company.
See Albert Schaffle, _Cotta_ (1895); _Verlags-Katalog der J. G.
Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, Nachfolger_ (1900); and Lord Goschen's _Life
and Times of G. J. Goschen_ (1903).
JOHANN FRIEDRICH COTTA (1701-1779), the theologian, was born on the 12th
of March 1701, the son of Johann Georg Cotta (2). After studying
theology at Tubingen he began his public career as lecturer in Jena
University. He then travelled in Germany, France and Holland, and, after
residing several years in London, became professor at Tubingen in 1733.
In 1736 he removed to the chair of theology in the university of
Gottingen, which had been instituted as a seat of learning, two years
before, by George II. of England, in his capacity as elector of Hanover.
In 1739, however, he returned, as extraordinary professor of theology,
to his Alma Mater, and, after successively filling the chairs of
history, poetry and oratory, was appointed ordinary professor of
theology in 1741. Finally he died, as chancellor of Tubingen University,
on the 31st of December 1779. His learning was at once wide and
accurate; his theological views were orthodox, although he did not
believe in strict verbal inspiration. He was a voluminous writer. His
chief works are his edition of Johann Gerhard's _Loci Theologici_
(1762-1777), and the _Kirchenhistorie des Neuen Testaments_ (1768-1773).
COTTA, BERNHARD VON (1808-1879), German geologist, was born in a
forester's lodge near Eisenach, on the 24th of October 1808. He was
educated at Freiberg and Heidelberg and from 1842 to 1874 he held the
professorship of geology in the Bergakademie of Freiberg. Botany at
first attracted him, and he was one of the earliest to use the
microscope in determining the structure of fossil plants. Later on he
gave his attention to practical geology, to the study of ore-deposits,
of rocks and metamorphism; and he was regarded as an excellent teacher.
His _Rocks classified and described: a Treatise on Lithology_
(translated by P. H. Lawrence, 1866) was the first comprehensive work on
the subject issued in the English language, and it gave great impetus to
the study of rocks in Britain. He died at Freiberg on the 14th of
September 1879.
PUBLICATIONS.--_Geognostische Wanderungen_ (1836-1838); _Grundriss der
Geognosie und Geologie_ (1846); _Geologische Briefe aus den Alpen_
(1850); _Praktische Geologie_ (1852); _Geologische Bilder_ (1852, ed.
4, 1861); _Die Gesteinslehre_ (1855, ed. 2, 1862).
COTTA, GAIUS AURELIUS (c. 124-73 B.C.), Roman statesman and orator. In
92 he defended his uncle P. Rutilius Rufus, who had been unjustly
accused of extortion in Asia. He was on intimate terms with the tribune
M. Livius Drusus, who was murdered in 91, and in the same year was an
unsuccessful candidate for the tribunate. Shortly afterwards he was
prosecuted under the _lex Varia_, directed against all who had in any
way supported the Italians against Rome, and, in order to avoid
condemnation, went into voluntary exile. He did not return till 82,
during the dictatorship of Sulla. In 75 he was consul, and excited the
hostility of the optimates by carrying a law that abolished the Sullan
disqualification of the tribunes from holding higher magistracies;
another law _de judiciis privatis_, of which nothing is known, was
abrogated by his brother. In 74 Cotta obtained the province of Gaul, and
was granted a triumph for some victory of which we possess no details;
but on the very day before its celebration an old wound broke out, and
he died suddenly. According to Cicero, P. Sulpicius Rufus and Cotta were
the best speakers of the young men of their time. Physically incapable
of rising to passionate heights of oratory, Cotta's successes were
chiefly due to his searching investigation of facts; he kept strictly to
the essentials of the case and avoided all irrelevant digressions. His
style was pure and simple. He is introduced by Cicero as an interlocutor
in the _De oratore_ and _De natura deorum_ (iii.), as a supporter of the
principles of the New Academy. The fragments of Sallust contain the
substance of a speech delivered by Cotta in order to calm the popular
anger at a deficient corn-supply.
See Cicero, _De oratore_, iii. 3, _Brutus_, 49, 55, 90, 92; Sallust,
_Hist. Frag._; Appian, _Bell. Civ._ i. 37.
His brother, LUCIUS AURELIUS COTTA, when praetor in 70 B.C. brought in a
law for the reform of the jury lists, by which the judices were to be
eligible, not from the senators exclusively as limited by Sulla, but
from senators, equites and _tribuni aerarii_. One-third were to be
senators, and two-thirds men of equestrian census, one-half of whom must
have been _tribuni aerarii_, a body as to whose functions there is no
certain evidence, although in Cicero's time they were reckoned by
courtesy amongst the equites. In 66 Cotta and L. Manlius Torquatus
accused the consuls-elect for the following year of bribery in connexion
with the elections; they were condemned, and Cotta and Torquatus chosen
in their places. After the suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy,
Cotta proposed a public thanksgiving for Cicero's services, and after
the latter had gone into exile, supported the view that there was no
need of a law for his recall, since the law of Clodius was legally
worthless. He subsequently attached himself to Caesar, and it was
currently reported that Cotta (who was then quindecimvir) intended to
propose that Caesar should receive the title of king, it being written
in the books of fate that the Parthians could only be defeated by a
king. Cotta's intention was not carried out in consequence of the murder
of Caesar, after which he retired from public life.
See Cicero, Orelli's _Onomasticon_; Sallust, _Catiline_, 18;
Suetonius, _Caesar_, 79; Livy, _Epit._ 97; Vell. Pat. ii. 32; Dio
Cassius xxxvi. 44, xxxvii. 1.
COTTABUS (Gr. [Greek: kottabos]), a game of skill for a long time in
great vogue at ancient Greek drinking parties, especially in the 4th and
5th centuries B.C. It is frequently alluded to by the classical writers
of the period, and not seldom depicted on ancient vases. The object of
the player was to cast a portion of wine left in his drinking cup in
such a way that, without breaking bulk in its passage through the air,
it should reach a certain object set up as a mark, and there produce a
distinct noise by its impact. Both the wine thrown and the noise made
were called [Greek: latax]. The thrower, in the ordinary form of the
game, was expected to retain the recumbent position that was usual at
table, and, in flinging the cottabus, to make use of his right hand
only. To succeed in the aim no small amount of dexterity was required,
and unusual ability in the game was rated as high as corresponding
excellence in throwing the javelin. Not only was the cottabus the
ordinary accompaniment of the festal assembly, but at least in Sicily a
special building of a circular form was sometimes erected so that the
players might be easily arranged round the basin, and follow each other
in rapid succession. Like all games in which the element of chance found
a place, it was regarded as more or less ominous of the future success
of the players, especially in matters of love; and the excitement was
sometimes further augmented by some object of value being staked on the
event.
Various modifications of the original principle of the game were
gradually introduced, but for practical purposes we may reckon two
varieties, (1) In the [Greek: Kottabos di oxybaphon] shallow saucers
([Greek: oxybapha]) were floated in a basin or mixing-bowl filled with
water; the object was to sink the saucers by throwing the wine into
them, and the competitor who sank the greatest number was considered
victorious, and received the prize, which consisted of cakes or
sweetmeats. (2) [Greek: Kottabos kataktos][1] is not so easy to
understand, although there is little doubt as to the apparatus. This
consisted of a [Greek: rhabdos] or bronze rod; a [Greek: plastinx], a
small disk or basin, resembling a scale-pan; a larger disk ([Greek:
lekanis]); and (in most cases) a small bronze figure called [Greek:
manes]. The discovery (by Professor Helbig in 1886) of two sets of
actual apparatus near Perugia and various representations on vases help
to elucidate the somewhat obscure accounts of the method of playing the
game contained in the scholia and certain ancient authors who, it must
not be forgotten, wrote at a time when the game itself had become
obsolete, and cannot therefore be looked to for a trustworthy
description of it.
The first specimen of the apparatus found at Perugia resembles a
candelabrum on a base, tapering towards the top, with a blunt end, on
which the small disk (found near the rod), which has a hole near the
edge and is slightly hollow in the middle, could be balanced. At about a
third of the height of the rod is a large disk with a hole in the centre
through which the rod runs; in a socket at the top is a small bronze
figure, with right arm and right leg uplifted. In the second specimen
there is no large disk, and the figure is holding up what is apparently
a rhyton or drinking-horn.
According to Prof. Helbig in _Mittheilungen des deutschen
archaologischen Instituts_ (Romische Abtheilung i., 1886) three games
were played with this apparatus. In the first the smaller disk was
placed on the top of the rod, and the object of the player was to
dislodge it with a cast of the wine, so that it would fall with a
clatter on the larger disk below. In the second (as in the third) the
bronze figure was used; the smaller disk was placed above the figure,
upon which it fell when hit, and thence on to the larger disk below. In
the third, there was no smaller disk; the wine was thrown at the figure,
and fell on to the larger disk underneath. Another supposed variety, in
which two scales were balanced in such a manner that the weight of the
liquid cast into either scale caused it to dip down and touch the top of
an image placed under each, probably had no real existence, but is due
to a confusion of the [Greek: plastinx] with a scale-pan by reason of
its shape. The game appears to have been of Sicilian origin, but it
spread through Greece from Thessaly to Rhodes, and was especially
fashionable at Athens. Dionysius, Alcaeus, Anacreon, Pindar,
Bacchylides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Antiphanes,
make frequent and familiar allusion to the [Greek: kottabos]; but in the
writers of the Roman and Alexandrian period such reference as occurs
shows that the fashion had died out. In Latin literature it is almost
entirely unknown.
The most complete treatise on the subject is C. Sartori's _Das
Kottabos-Spiel der alten Griechen_ (1893), in which a full
bibliography of ancient and modern authorities is given. English
readers may be referred to an article by A. Higgins on "Recent
Discoveries of the Apparatus used in playing the Game of Kottabos"
(_Archaeologia_, li. 1888); see also "Kottabos" in Daremberg and
Saglio's _Dictionnaire des antiquites_, and L. Becq de Fouquieres,
_Les Jeux des anciens_ (1873).