Goethe & his Publishers - Hardcover

Unseld, Siegfried

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226841901 ISBN 13: 9780226841908

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1996

Synopsis

Poet and natural philosopher, critic and raconteur, Goethe was the most commanding literary presence of his time. This text organizes the many details of Goethe's career in print. Director of the German publishing company Suhrkamp Verlag, Siegfried Unseld brings a singular perspective to this biography, focusing our attention on an essential component of Goethe's literary endeavors: his relationship to his publishers. Carefully examining each work, Unseld covers the range of Goethe's oeuvre, from first anonymous publications to eventual monumental editions brought out by Johann Friedrich Cotta, the most renowned publisher of his day.

About this title

About the Authors

Siegfried Unseld (1924-2002) was the publisher of Suhrkamp Verlag in Frankfurt for fifty years. He was also a scholar of German literature and wrote four books on Goethe, including Goethe and His Publishers, published in translation by the University of Chicago Press.

Kenneth J. Northcott is a professor emeritus of German at the University of Chicago. He has translated many books, among them Thomas Bernhard's The Voice Imitator, Histrionics, and Three Novellas, all published by the University of Chicago Press.

Translator, scholar, and stage actor Kenneth J. Northcott (1922-2019) was professor emeritus of Germanic Studies at the University of Chicago and the translator of numerous German-language books for the University of Chicago Press. He is especially known for his inspired translations of works by the Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard, all of which remain in print: The Voice Imitator, Walking, Three Novellas, and Histrionics: Three Plays.

From the Back Cover

Goethe and His Publishers organizes for the first time the myriad details of Goethe's career in print. Himself one of Germany's most eminent publishers, Siegfried Unseld brings a singular perspective to this biography, focusing our attention on an essential component of Goethe's literary endeavors: his relationship to his publishers. Carefully examining each work, Unseld covers the range of Goethe's oeuvre, from first anonymous publications to eventual monumental editions brought out by Johann Friedrich Cotta, the most renowned publisher of his day. Unseld sifts through the rich correspondence between Goethe and his publishers, as well as letters to and from friends, colleagues, and contemporaries. Analyzing publishing contracts, draft contracts, and historical documents, Unseld reveals the tremendous energy Goethe exerted on behalf of his manuscripts. During negotiations he was sometimes circumspect and reserved, at other times demanding and assertive. These exchanges not only shed new light on Goethe's complex character but also show how he changed the author's role in the publishing process. Thus, this work offers a penetrating study of the intricate and many-tiered relations between author and publisher, then and today.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226841901
• ISBN 13: 9780226841908
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 382