Tischendorf, LOBEGOTT FRIEDRICH KONSTANTIN VON, a very eminent biblical scholar, was born at Leugenfeld in Saxony on January 18, 1815, and studied theology and philology at Leipzig, where in 1839 he became a university lecturer.
His labours in search of the best and most ancient MSS. of the New Testament, in which he was liberally assisted by the Saxon and Russian governments, were exceedingly valuable, especially those in 1844, 1853, and 1859, which resulted in the discovery of the Sinaitic Codex (see CODEX) at the monastery on Mount Sinai; those journeys he described in Reise in den Orient (2 vols. 1846; Eng. trans. 1847) and Aus dem Heiligen Lande (1862). Among the most important of his numerous works are the editions of the Sinaitic (1862; in fac-simile in 1863) and many other MSS. of the New Testament; the Eighth Critical Edition of the New Testament (1864-72), and several other editions of the New Testament text; an edition of the Septuagint; and the Monumenta Sacra Inedita (1846-71). The pamphlet When were our Gospels Written? defending the genuineness and authenticity of the four gospels, was translated into English in 1866. After being an extra-ordinary and ordinary professor at Leipzig from 1845, he became professor of Theology and of Biblical Palæography in 1859, a chair in the latter subject having been instituted for him. He was created a Count of the Russian empire, an LL.D. of Cambridge, a D.C.L. of Oxford, &c. He died on December 1, 1874. There is a sketch of his life by Volbeding (1862).