BURCKHARDT, JAKOB (1818-1897), Swiss writer on art and social history, was born at Basle on May 25, 1818, and died there on Aug. 8, 1897. He studied (1839-43) at Berlin, spent part of 1841 at Bonn, where he was a pupil of Franz Kugler, the art historian, and in 1845 became professor of history in his native city. This position he held, with short intervals, until 1893. His principal works, all of which are important in the history of art criticism, are Die Zeit Konstantins des Grossen ; 4th ed. 1924) ; Der Cicerone, eine Anleitung zum Genuss der Kunstwerke Italiens (1855; reprint 3 vols. 1925; Eng. trans. of part, 1873); Die Kultur der Renaissance in I talien (186o; 14th ed. 1925; Eng. trans. 1878) ; Geschichte der Renaissance in Italien (1867; 7th ed. 1924). Burckhardt's great book on the Italian Renaissance, was the first comprehensive survey of its kind.