Publisher Description

The most comprehensive one-volume collection of Goethe's writings ever published in EnglishThe Essential Goethe is the most comprehensive and representative one-volume collection of Goethe's writings ever published in English. It provides English-language readers easier access than ever before to the widest range of work by one of the greatest writers in world history. Goethe's work as playwright, poet, novelist, and autobiographer is fully represented. In addition to the works for which he is most famous, including Faust Part I and the lyric poems, the volume features important literary works that are rarely published in English-including the dramas Egmont, Iphigenia in Tauris, and Torquato Tasso and the bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, a foundational work in the history of the novel. The volume also offers a selection of Goethe's essays on the arts, philosophy, and science, which give access to the thought of a polymath unrivalled in the modern world. Primarily drawn from Princeton's authoritative twelve-volume Goethe edition, the translations are highly readable and reliable modern versions by scholars of Goethe. The volume also features an extensive introduction to Goethe's life and works by volume editor Matthew Bell.Includes:Selected poemsFour complete dramas: Faust Part I, Egmont, Iphigenia in Tauris, and Torquato TassoThe complete novel Wilhelm Meister's ApprenticeshipA selection from the travel journal Italian JourneySelected essays on art and literatureSelected essays on philosophy and scienceAn extensive introduction to Goethe's life and worksA chronology of Goethe's life and timesA note on the texts and translations

Author Biography

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) was one of the greatest writers of the German Romantic period. Matthew Bell is professor of German and comparative literature at King's College London. His books include Goethe's Naturalistic Anthropology and Melancholia: The Western Malady.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

Chronology of Goethe's Life and Times xxxiii

Selected Poems 1

Egmont 41

Translated by Michael Hamburger

Iphigenia in Tauris 107

Translated by David Luke

Torquato Tasso 163

Translated by Michael Hamburger

Faust. A Tragedy 249

Translated by John R. Williams

Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship 371

Italian Journey: Part One 751

On Literature and Art 867

On German Architecture (1772) 867

Shakespeare: A Tribute (1771) 872

Simple Imitation, Manner, Style (1789) 875

Response to a Literary Rabble-Rouser (1795) 878

Winckelmann and His Age (1805) 881

Myron's Cow (1818) 903

On World Literature 908

On Philosophy and Science 913

On Granite (1784) 913

A Study Based on Spinoza (c. 1785) 916

The Metamorphosis of Plants (1790) 917

Toward a General Comparative Theory (1790-94) 937

The Experiment as Mediator between Subject and Object (1792) 940

The Extent to Which the Idea "Beauty Is Perfection in Combination with Freedom" May Be Applied to Living Organisms (c. 1794) 947

Observation on Morphology in General (c. 1795) 948

Polarity (c. 1799) 951

From Theory of Color (1791-1807) 952

Part Five: Relationship to Other Fields 952

Part Six: Sensory-Moral Effect of Color 960

From On Morphology (1807-17) 977

The Enterprise Justified 977

The Purpose Set Forth 978

The Content Prefaced 981

The Influence of Modern Philosophy (1817) 983

Colors in the Sky (1817-20) 986

Problems (1823) 987

Excerpt from "Toward a Theory of Weather" (1825) 988

Analysis and Synthesis (c. 1829) 993

A More Intense Chemical Activity in Primordial Matter (1826) 995

Excerpt from "The Spiral Tendency in Vegetation" (1829-31) 995

Selections from Maxims and Reflections 998

Review

"One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016"
"A rich new anthology … which valiantly seeks to display every facet of Goethe's genius."---Adam Kirsch, New Yorker
"Succeeds in presenting Goethe from as many angles as can be fitted in between the covers of a single tome: the scientist beside the poet, the tireless observer of nature and eagle-eyed critic of art and society, the philosopher alongside the novelist and playwright."---Osman Durrani, Times Literary Supplement
"This meticulously prepared edition brims with Goethe's radiant insights and reflects his stunning virtuosity, confirming again his paramount position in European letters." * Publishers Weekly *
"Answers a need for a one-volume English translation of Goethe's most significant works…. An excellent, serviceable book." * Choice *
"[T]his is the best available one-volume anthology of Goethe's works, spanning the full range of his output of poetry, drama, novels, literary criticism, autobiography, philosophy and science. The scope and insight of his work is extraordinary and his style eminently readable in every discipline."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer

Prizes

Commended for "Choice"'s Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016 2016

Long Description

The most comprehensive one-volume collection of Goethe's writings ever published in EnglishThe Essential Goethe is the most comprehensive and representative one-volume collection of Goethe's writings ever published in English. It provides English-language readers easier access than ever before to the widest range of work by one of the greatest writers in world history. Goethe's work as playwright, poet, novelist, and autobiographer is fully represented. In addition to the works for which he is most famous, including Faust Part I and the lyric poems, the volume features important literary works that are rarely published in English-including the dramas Egmont, Iphigenia in Tauris, and Torquato Tasso and the bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, a foundational work in the history of the novel. The volume also offers a selection of Goethe's essays on the arts, philosophy, and science, which give access to the thought of a polymath unrivalled in the modern world. Primarily drawn from Princeton's authoritative twelve-volume Goethe edition, the translations are highly readable and reliable modern versions by scholars of Goethe. The volume also features an extensive introduction to Goethe's life and works by volume editor Matthew Bell.Includes:Selected poemsFour complete dramas: Faust Part I, Egmont, Iphigenia in Tauris, and Torquato TassoThe complete novel Wilhelm Meister's ApprenticeshipA selection from the travel journal Italian JourneySelected essays on art and literatureSelected essays on philosophy and scienceAn extensive introduction to Goethe's life and worksA chronology of Goethe's life and timesA note on the texts and translations

Review Quote

"The meticulously prepared edition [ The Essential Goethe ] brims with Goethe's radiant insights and reflects his stunning virtuosity, confirming again his paramount position in European letters." -- Publishers Weekly

Details