Gotthold Ephraim Lessing : his life, works, and thought / H.B. Nisbet.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nisbet, H. B.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, 1729-1781.

Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim.

Authors, German.

Enlightenment.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (749 pages) : illustrations, facsimiles, portraits

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford University Press 2013

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) is the most eminent literary figure of the German Enlightenment and a writer of European significance. His range of interest as dramatist, poet, critic, philosopher, theologian, philologist and much else besides was comparable to that of Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau, with all of whose ideas he engaged. He contributed decisively to the emergence of German as a literary language and was the founder of modern German literature, urging his compatriots to look to England rather than France for literary inspiration. His major plays (including the classic drama on religious tolerance, Nathan the Wise) are still regularly performed. He was a brilliant controversialist, and his philosophical and religious writings profoundly shook traditional assumptions. This book sets his life and work in the context of the intellectual, social, and cultural background of eighteenth-century Europe.

Contents:

List of Illustrations List of Abbrevations Introduction: Why Lessing? 1. Kamenz, Meissen, Leipzig 1729-1748 2. Early Dramas and Poetry 3. Berlin 1748-1752: Society; Journalism; Didactic Poetry 4. Wittenberg and Associated Writings 1752-1754: History of Scholarship; Philosophy; Theology and Religion; Classical Philology; Epigrams 5. Berlin 1752-1755: the Academy Quarrel; Translations and Collected Writings; Social Circle and the Death of Mylius; Mendelssohn, Nicolai, and Other New Friendships; Pope a Metaphysician! 6. From Comedy to Tragedy 1754-1757: the Theatrical Library; Samuel Henzi; Miss Sara Sampson; Correspondence with Mendelssohn and Nicolai on Tragedy 7. Leipzig and Berlin 1755-1759: Travels; Translations and Journalism; Kleist, Gleim, and the Seven Years War; Philotas 8. Berlin 1758-1760: Letters on Literature; Logau Edition; Fables and Essays on the Fable; Translations of Diderot; Sophocles 9. The Middle Years: War and Peace in Breslau 1760-1765 10. Laocoön; Last Years in Berlin 1765-1766 11. Minna von Barnhelm 12. Hamburg and the National Theatre 13. Hamburg Writings 1767-1770: Hamburg Dramaturgy; Dramatic Fragments; Antiquarian Letters; How the Ancients Portrayed Death 14. Wolfenbüttel and Brunswick; Travels in Germany, Austria, and Italy; Engagement and Marriage: 1770-1776 15. Lessing, the Library and Related Publications: 1770-1782 16. Miscellaneous Writings; Emilia Galotti: 1770-1775 17. Philosophy and Theology 1770-1776; Marriage and Family Life; the Mannheim Theatre; Bereavement: 1776-1778 18. Reimarus, Goeze, and the Theological Conflict: 1776-1779 19. The Education of the Human Race and Ernst and Falk 20. Nathan the Wise 21. The Final Years 1778-1781: Declining Health; Conversations on Spinoza; Last Illness and Death; Memorials and Monuments; Lessing's Estate 22. Lessing's Reception: an Outline Conclusion

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed September 30, 2013).

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-166884-2

OCLC:

861535456