The life and work of Goethe, 1749-1832 / by J.G. Robertson.

  • John George Robertson
Date:
1932
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The life and work of Goethe, 1749-1832 / by J.G. Robertson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PREFACE A BOOK published at the Centenary of the death of a great personality necessarily takes on the character of a retrospect. To myself the writing of this volume and its amplification in its present form have been in a peculiar degree such a retrospect. Very much of my work has been associated with Goethe since early days when, under the influence of our greatest British apostle of Goethe, Carlyle, I first devoted myself to the study of the poet; the elucida¬ tion of his work and thought has always stood in the forefront of my teaching as professor of Modern Ger¬ man Literature in the University of London; and I have a particular satisfaction in the fact that this “ Goethejahr ” has provided the opportunity of rounding off my academic activity with a series of public lectures at University College in honour of the poet. My original intention was to make this Centenary book a collection of special studies on Goethe written at various times in the past thirty years ; but Messrs. Routledge have been good enough to fall in with my alternative suggestion that some of these might be incorporated in an enlarged edition of the life of Goethe which they published for me six years ago. That work, in accordance with the plan of the series in which it appeared, was mainly biographical, and the literary criticism it offered was scanty and summary. I wel¬ come the opportunity of supplementing it with a fuller treatment of Goethe’s writings. In dedicating the volume to the English Goethe Society I would express my indebtedness to that body xi
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