A New Goethe Letter

CHRISTA SAMMONS A New Goethe Letter Th E William A. Speck Collection of Goetheana, part of the Yale Collection of German Literature, has had the good fortune to obtain a previously unrecorded letter by Goethe which adds a small piece to the history of Werther reception. It consists of one page from Goethe (in a secretarial hand but with his signature) addressed to the historian Heinrich Luden (1780-1847), written on 26 December 1806 from Weimar: Weimar, den 26. December 1806. Daß ich, mein werthester Herr Professor, herzlichen Antheil daran genommen habe, daß Sie mit in das Unglück unserer Gegend verwickelt worden, davon sind Sie gewiß überzeugt. Ich wünsche daß Ihre jugendliche Thätigkeit sich wieder empor und in das alte Gleis arbeiten möge. Was die Uebersetzung des Ortis betrifft, so trete ich Ihnen gern die geringen Rechte darauf ab, die ich mir darauf könnte angemaßt haben. Mein Exemplar ist nicht gleich bey der Hand, sonst stund es zu Diensten. Es ist aber eins von der wenigem Seitenzahl. Zugleich schicke ich Ihnen ein andres Werk Sidner, auch ein Schößling aus der Wertherischen Wurzel. Es ist merkwürdig genug, daß ein solcher Roman uns von IsIe de France kommt. Er ist freylich nur schwach; aber vielleicht wäre es zu Ihren jetzigen Zwecken gar nicht undienlich ihn zu übersetzen und an den Ortis anzuschließen. Mein Exemplar steht Ihnen solang Sie es brauchen, zu Diensten; nur erbitte ich es mir in der Folge zurück. Ich hoffe bald nach Jena zu kommen und mündlich von Ihrem Wohlbefinden zu hören. Goethe 208 Christa Sammons Luden's entanglement in the misfortunes of the region were indeed worthy of Goethe's sympathy. Having been appointed a few months earlier to the faculty of the University of Jena, Luden arrived to find his newly leased quarters plundered and ransacked in the wake of Napoleon's defeat of the Prussians at Jena in October 1806 — his manuscripts, library, and household effects scattered to the winds. In his professional distress, Luden turned to his advisor and friend, the eminent Swiss historian Johannes von Müller (1752-1809), who suggested that he translate Ugo Foscolo's Ultime lettere dijacopo Ortis, a book that Müller especially admired. The translation, which appeared in 1807, helped to launch Luden's career. As is well known, Foscolo's patriotic novel owes much to Werther, and in writing to Luden Goethe mentions "another little sprout from the Werther-root," the novel "Sidner." The full title of the work is Sidner, ou les dangers de l'imagination, by Barthélémy Huet de Froberville (1761-1835), a Frenchman whose service in the French army took him to the island of Mauritius, then known as the Isle de France. After retiring from the military, Froberville stayed in Mauritius, devoting himself to belles lettres and public service. The book is listed in Hans Ruppert's catalogue, Goethes Bibliothek (Weimar: Arion Verlag, 1958), as item 1588. It was published in Mauritius by CF. Boudret in 1803. Goethe's letter to Luden of 26 December 1806 remained unrecorded until 1989, when it was auctioned in London by Sotheby's, too late to be included in Paul Raabe's three-volume Nachträge to the letter series of the Weimarer Ausgabe* However, the Weimarer Ausgabe contains other letters to Luden concerning Ortis and Sidner, as well as a draft in French to the Sidner author, who is unnamed, either in the letters or in the commentary to them. Curiously, the Sidner author is glossed correctly in the Tagebücher series of the Weimarer Ausgabe, when Goethe mentions lending the book to Luden in December 1806, asks about its return the following February, and sends it to the printer and book dealer Frommann a year later. Yale University, Beinecke Library * The Luden letter must have been the first to come to light after Raabe's inventory and indices went to press. In a footnote to the introduction in the second volume of his Nachträge, he mentions that the letter is being offered by Sotheby's. See Goethes Briefe, 52. Band: Nachträge 17681832 . Erläuterungen (Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1990...