Notes for a Romantic Encyclopaedia: Das Allgemeine Brouillon

Text by Novalis: Notes for a Romantic Encyclopaedia(Das Allgemeine Brouillion)

Text by Novalis  Notes for a Romantic Encyclopaedia (Das Allgemeine Brouillion) [First Group of Papers: September–October 1798] 1. ⬍The large fleshy bodies of seals. Fish.⬎ 2. ⬍perspective stereometrics of painting. (Art of surfaces and lines. Cubic art.)⬎ 3. ART OF POETRY. Epithets of the Greek poets—thoroughly picturesque significance —E.g. In Juno, the eyes set the tone and so on. Theory of ideal proportions. 4. MEDICINE. Proportions of an illness—elementary proportions.—In one illness , the stomach sets the tone, in another, the lungs and so on. 5. Winckelmann’s History of Greek Art.1 ⬎ 6. ⬍Attributes—Signatures. Heraldry. Individuality.⬎ 7. ⬍Was Raphael a painter of the soul? 2 What does that mean?⬎ 8. ⬍At the present time physics is but mass—only consists of isolated masses. There is as yet no physics—there are only isolated physical sciences—perhaps not even physical.⬎ 9. ⬍History of encyclopedistics.⬎ 10. ⬍Romanticizing is similar to algebraicizing3 —letter to Fr[iedrich Schlegel]— romantic.4 ⬎ 11. ⬍History of Nature. Descriptions of Nature. Description of electricity— magnetism etc. (Description of art.) Treatise on the laws of Nature. Algebraization of mathematical laws.⬎ 12. TELEOLOGY. Everything that is desirable to discard is but false opinion—error. Illness and affliction are only such in and through the imagination—they are not to be maintained. 3 MEDICINE. Benefits of every illness—Poesy of every illness. An illness cannot be life, otherwise the connection with illness would have to elevate our existence. Continuation of this remarkable thought.5 13. ⬍Trade—spirit of trade. / City rights—Forestry rights—National rights or national sovereignty etc.⬎ 14. ⬍Transactions on the whole / More on the unusual indication concerning the differences between theory and praxis. Praxis should become more theoretical.⬎ 15. ⬍One learns trades—machines—sciences—arts—human beings etc. best and most easily through skillful classification, and judicious, successive observation.⬎ 16. PEDAGOGY. Education of children, like the development of an apprentice— not through direct education—but through gradual participation in the activities etc. of adults./ 17. ⬍Boredom is hunger—or asthenic deficiency. Indirect boredom: Direct boredom.⬎ 18. ⬍Concept of configuration—symmetry. (Proportions of the body.)6 ⬎ 19. THEORY OF ART. Limits of painting—and sculpture— Path of sculpture out of the ideal. Path of painting into the ideal. 20. SCIENCE OF HISTORY. Transition from the heathen religion (liturgy) to the catholic religion. 21. ⬍Children are antiquities. Yet not all children are children. Youth is also antique. However, not all youths are youths.⬎ 22. SCIENCE OF HISTORY. Antiquity—out of the ideal. Juvenility into the ideal. 23. SCIENCE OF HISTORY. Adults are youths in another connection. 24. ⬍Theory of excitation—Brown.7 (Motion)⬎ 4 Novalis: Notes for a Romantic Encyclopaedia 25. ⬍Clothing and person are identical in Greek figures—Assimilation of clothing.⬎ 26. ⬍Charcoal, colors, strokes and words are genuine elements, like mathematical lines and planes. ⬎ 27. ⬍Surely a statue and a painting must also have their own formulae for construction —individual rules of art?⬎ 28. ⬍Scientific dithyrambs—(Overuse of terminological expressions.)⬎ 29. ⬍(On animal painting.)⬎ 30. ⬍Colossal presentations—colossal novel.⬎ 31. ⬍The alphabet is a spiritual currency—ciphers. Schl[egel] sen[ior]⬎ 32. LOGIC. Contrasts—are inverse similarities. 33. ⬍Playing the coquette with a talent—a sense etc. (Playing the coquette—striving to arouse attention, and hence to please indirectly. In a rhetorical manner.) Schl[egel] sen[ior].⬎ 34. ⬍Concept of a miniature. Schl[egel] sen[ior].⬎ 35. ⬍Phenomenological nature of painting.⬎ 36. THEORY OF ART. On the characterizing element of every composition. 37. ⬍Clothed nature. Tone of the landscape. (Still life.)⬎ 38. THEORY OF ART. CRITIQUE. On the modern principle of the imitation of Nature. / Realization of the apparent. Schl[egel] sen[ior]. /  39. PSYCHOLOGY. One has an inclination for whatever one can do with skill and ease; and a disinclination for the opposite. Our will is either dependent upon ⫹ and ⫺ inclination, or it is independent. 40. (PSYCHOLOGY). Whatever one will not or cannot grasp and do all at once, one grasps and achieves gradually, and step by step. Novalis: Notes for a Romantic Encyclopaedia 5 41. ⬍Descriptive and narrative physics. / If one begins to reflect upon the flame of a fire, how does one proceed? By dissecting. (Fiery smoke, fiery steam—fiery air, fiery aether, fiery solid, fiery liquid.)⬎ 42. MATHEMATICS. The exposition of mathematics must itself be mathematical . / Mathematics of mathematics. 43. (MEDICINE). Intoxication from strength—intoxication from [weakness]. Narcotic poisons, wine etc. induce an intoxication from weakness...