The International Magazine, Volume 4, No. 5, December 1851Various
History
The International Magazine, Volume 4, No. 5, December 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
Another, and a valuable contribution, to the almost infinite Goethean
literature, has appeared in Germany, in the second volume of J. W.
SCHAFER'S life of the great poet. It begins with the year 1786, and
comes down to the death of the modern Shakespeare. Its materials are
drawn from the writings of Goethe himself, and from the published
letters and memoirs upon separate portions of his life. The Italian
Journey is the subject of a special disquisition. Goethe's political
opinions are also discussed in connection with his behavior during
the war of independence. Finally, we have the man in his old age,
when his leading feature of character is said to be universality of
mental activity. The style of the book is clear and condensed, and its
fairness and impartiality a subject of laudation.
A third volume of GOETHE'S _Correspondence with Madame von Stein_
has been published in Germany. It is no less interesting than the
preceding, whether as a collection of letters, or as a revelation
of the character and private history of the greatest man in German
literature. The assertion that Goethe was really a man of cold and
heartless nature, and that the warmth of feeling and freshness of
sentiment displayed in his poems was merely fictitious, is entirely
refuted by this correspondence.
A collection of poems, by WOLFGANG VON GOETHE, the son of the great
poet, was published by Cotta, of Stuttgart, in October last. We
have not seen the book, but the publisher's advertisement is quite
apologetic, and indicates that the name of the father has not insured
the inheritance of his genius.
* * * * *
A new work entitled _Das Brittische Reich in Europe_ (The British
Empire in Europe), has just appeared at Leipzig, in which the progress
and power of England are compared with those of the United States. The
author, Herr MEIDINGER, is an admirer of the present policy of England,
and exhibits at length the statistics of the advance made by the
country under that policy. A statistical survey of the religious and
moral condition of Ireland, which forms a part of the work, has also
been printed as a separate book.
* * * * *
Students of middle-age antiquities may find a bone to gnaw in _Dat Spil
fan der Upstandinge_ (The Play of the Resurrection), just published
with annotations by Herr ETTMULLER at Quedlinburg. This is said to
be greatly superior to the mass of the religious dramas of the time;
it has a genuine unity and is not disfigured by the admixture of
buffoonery with the awful realities of New Testament history. It is in
the Low German dialect, and dates from the fifteenth century.
* * * * *
A good history of French literature has been published in German by
Professor KREYSIG of Elbing. It is designed for a schoolbook, and
evinces both learning and fairness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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