Goethe, Johann Wolfgang ___ 1749-1832 ___ German ___ civilservant, writer

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Goethe was born in Frankfurt to a lawyer and the mayor's daughter, and was educated in Leipzig and Strasbourg. By 1771, he had returned to Frankfurt and was working as a lawyer. His first novel, 'The Sorrows of Young Werther', was published in 1774. The following year, he made a trip to Switzerland, and then went to work in Weimar for Duke Charles Augustus. Over the years, he was given various administrative duties, ranging from finance to roads and from military matters to mining issues. Occasionally he gave readings to the Duke and guests. Goethe was an inveterate inquirer, studying widely, not least human biology (he discovered the human inter-maxillary bone) and philosophy. The duke ennobled Goethe, and eventually released him from day-to-day governmental duties (although he remained at the centre of Weimar's cultural life) allowing him to focus on writing. In the mid-1780s, Goethe travelled to Italy, and, in 1789, he began a relationship with Christiane Vulpius (although, scandalously, they did not marry until 1806, after she had borne him a son). From the 1790s Goethe wrote widely on arts and literature, especially in his own journal 'Propyläen', and he developed a firm friendship with Friedrich Schiller. His most famous poem, 'Faust', an epic drama, was published in two parts, the first in 1808, and the second after his death. His other major works, include the novel 'Elective Affinities' and 'The Apprenticeship of Wilhelm Meister.'
A biography link
Wikipedia bio

DIARY DATES, CONTENT DESCRIPTORS
1786-1788 ___ literary travel art nature science Italy

WEB TEXT LINKS
etext in German
some pages
about

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT LINKS
Goethe and Schiller Archive

SOME PUBLISHED TITLES
The Flight to Italy, Diary and Selected Letters
 

May 2005, June 2008
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IMPORTANT NOTES AND CAUTIONS: 1) The first line of basic information may be incomplete in several ways: some historical figures have different names (titles, pen-names); their birth and death dates may be unknown or uncertain (g - guess, c - circa); similarly, their occupations may be unknown, or they may have had other jobs; and, for early diarists, I've used 'British' a bit too freely. 2) The biographical summary may not be accurate. It was compiled quickly from various sources, mostly on the internet, and the facts were not checked anywhere near as rigorously as they would have been if they'd been intended for publication in a printed form. 3) The journal dates and descriptors (which are in no particular order) must be treated with caution: since I have not examined the diaries myself, the descriptors are only guesses based on bibliographies, anthologies and internet biographies. 4) For the biography and etext links, I have ignored any sites with charges, and I have avoided, wherever possible, those with pop-ups or too much advertising. I have limited myself to providing three etext links where there is some variety between them. 5) For the original manuscript links, I have limited myself to providing a maximum of two (although, for a few diarists, their original diaries are held in more than two places). 6) I have provided the titles - chosen randomly - for up to three printed editions of the diaries.