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    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    Before he was thirty, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had proven himself a master of the novel, drama, and lyric poetry. But even more impressive than his versatility was his unwillingness ever to settle into a single style or approach; whenever he used a literary form, he made it something new. Born in 1749 to a well-to-do family in Frankfurt, he was sent to Strasbourg to earn a law degree. There, he met the poet-philosopher Herder, discovered Shakespeare, and began to write poetry. His play Götz von Berlichingen (1773) made him famous throughout Germany. He was invited to the court of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, where he quickly became a cabinet minister. In 1774 his novel of Romantic melancholy, The Sorrows of a Young Werther, electrified all of Europe. Soon he was at work on the first version of his Faust, which would finally appear as a fragment in 1790. In the 1780s, Goethe visited England and immersed himself in classical poetry. The next decade saw the appearance of Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, his novel of a young artist's education, and a wealth of poetry and criticism. He returned to the Faust material around the turn of the century and completed Part 1 in 1808. The later years of his life were devoted to a bewildering array of pursuits: research in botany and a theory of colors, a novel (Elective Affinities), the evocative poems of the West-Eastern Divan, and his great autobiography, Poetry and Truth. In his eighties he prepared a forty-volume edition of his works; the forty-first volume, published after his death in 1832, was the second part of Faust. Goethe’s wide-ranging mind could never be confined to one form or one philosophy. When asked for the theme of his masterwork, Faust, he could only say, “From heaven through all the world to hell”; his subject was nothing smaller.
    The Sorrows of Young Werther and Selected Writings
    The Sorrows of Young Werther and Selected Writings
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Marcelle Clements
    9780451418555
    $7.95 US
    Mass Market Paperback
    Mar 05, 2013
    Signet
    Faust
    Faust
    Part 2
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140449020
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Jun 30, 2009
    Penguin Classics
    Selected Poetry
    Selected Poetry
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140424560
    $20.00 US
    Paperback
    Dec 27, 2005
    Penguin Classics
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780812969900
    $10.95 US
    Paperback
    Feb 08, 2005
    Modern Library
    Selected Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    Selected Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    Introduction by Nicholas Boyle
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780375410444
    $48.00 US
    Hardcover
    May 30, 2000
    Everyman's Library
    Maxims and Reflections
    Maxims and Reflections
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140447200
    $19.00 US
    Paperback
    Mar 01, 1999
    Penguin Classics
    Italian Journey
    Italian Journey
    1786-1788
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140442335
    $19.00 US
    Paperback
    Dec 01, 1992
    Penguin Classics
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780679729518
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Jun 16, 1990
    Vintage
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140445039
    $10.95 US
    Paperback
    Aug 01, 1989
    Penguin Classics
    Faust
    Faust
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780553213485
    $7.95 US
    Mass Market Paperback
    Jul 01, 1988
    Bantam Classics
    Elective Affinities
    Elective Affinities
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140442427
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Oct 26, 1978
    Penguin Classics
    Goethe's Faust
    Goethe's Faust
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780385031141
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Dec 04, 1962
    Vintage

    Books

    The Sorrows of Young Werther and Selected Writings
    The Sorrows of Young Werther and Selected Writings
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Marcelle Clements
    9780451418555
    $7.95 US
    Mass Market Paperback
    Mar 05, 2013
    Signet
    Faust
    Faust
    Part 2
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140449020
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Jun 30, 2009
    Penguin Classics
    Selected Poetry
    Selected Poetry
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140424560
    $20.00 US
    Paperback
    Dec 27, 2005
    Penguin Classics
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780812969900
    $10.95 US
    Paperback
    Feb 08, 2005
    Modern Library
    Selected Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    Selected Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    Introduction by Nicholas Boyle
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780375410444
    $48.00 US
    Hardcover
    May 30, 2000
    Everyman's Library
    Maxims and Reflections
    Maxims and Reflections
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140447200
    $19.00 US
    Paperback
    Mar 01, 1999
    Penguin Classics
    Italian Journey
    Italian Journey
    1786-1788
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140442335
    $19.00 US
    Paperback
    Dec 01, 1992
    Penguin Classics
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780679729518
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Jun 16, 1990
    Vintage
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140445039
    $10.95 US
    Paperback
    Aug 01, 1989
    Penguin Classics
    Faust
    Faust
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780553213485
    $7.95 US
    Mass Market Paperback
    Jul 01, 1988
    Bantam Classics
    Elective Affinities
    Elective Affinities
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780140442427
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Oct 26, 1978
    Penguin Classics
    Goethe's Faust
    Goethe's Faust
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    9780385031141
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Dec 04, 1962
    Vintage

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