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The Essential Goethe
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Check link for latest rating. ( 76 ratings, 8 reviews)
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Ideal for students of literature and philosophy, scholars, and readers interested in classical European arts and culture. This volume suits those seeking an authoritative, accessible introduction to Goethe’s vast and varied oeuvre.
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See moreFirst published by Wordsworth Editions 1999 and 2007. First published by Princeton University Press in 2016.
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Description
The 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 poems
- Four complete dramas: Faust Part I, Egmont, Iphigenia in Tauris, and Torquato Tasso
- The complete novel Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
- A selection from the travel journal Italian Journey
- Selected essays on art and literature
- Selected essays on philosophy and science
- An extensive introduction to Goethe's life and works
- A chronology of Goethe's life and times
- A note on the texts and translations
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Praised as "One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016," this anthology is acclaimed for its rich display of Goethe's multifaceted genius. Adam Kirsch of the New Yorker commends its attempt to capture every aspect of Goethe’s work, while Osman Durrani in the Times Literary Supplement highlights its success in presenting Goethe as both scientist and poet, philosopher and playwright. Publishers Weekly calls it meticulously prepared and affirms Goethe’s paramount position in European letters. Choice describes it as an excellent, serviceable volume, and David Lorimer praises it as the best available one-volume anthology covering the full range of Goethe’s output.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780691181042
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 12 June 2018
Country: United States
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Illustration: 1 halftone. 1 table.
Contributors:
- Edited by Matthew Bell
- Introduction by Matthew Bell
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 155.0mm
Height: 235.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 1056
About the Author
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (17491832) 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.
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