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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
J.M. Lappenberg in his collection of Briefe von und an Klopstock (Brunswick: Westermann, 1867) was able to include thirty-three unpublished letters to Klopstock through the generosity of Meta von Winthem, a descendent of the brother of the poet's second wife. The impression was given that these were all that she could supply, though it is now clear that she had made her selection solely from the letters of the more well-known literary figures. It was not until the 1920's that those interested in Klopstock became aware that other manuscript material was still to be found at this source, and the family was generous in acceding from time to time to specific requests from scholars. However, no general access to the originals was permitted. The full extent of Klopstock's literary remains only recently became apparent when the Hamburg Municipal Library acquired the whole collection by purchase.
1 In Aus Herders Nachlaß, ed. H. Düntzer and F. G. von Herder (Frankfurt, 1856), i, 362, this sentence reads: “soll … entscheiden.”
2 Adolf Kohut, “Friedrich Klopstock als Briefschreiber,” Nord und Süd, cv (1903), 61 ff., claimed that Klopstock's letters to Herder were in fact sent by his widow to Friedrich Stolberg, but he did not give his evidence.
3 The subscription list prefaced to the 1st ed. gives him and 4 anonymous subscribers.
4 Hamann's letter to Herder of 21 Aug. 1773 says: “Der Titel zu Klopstocks Subscriptionsversuch hat all mein Blut in Wallung gebracht, nachdem ich das Compliment an mich in seinem Briefe an Hofprediger Lindner gelesen habe. Ich bin der erste gewesen, der unterschrieben und auf Werbung ausgegangen. Diese Idee ist eines Klopstock würdig, sie mag von ihm behandelt werden wie sie wolle” (Hamanns Schriften, ed. F. Roth, Berlin, 1821-24, v, 42).
5 Of the 39 names from Hanover in the subscription list, no one is indicated as a “Collekteur”; one, indicated as a “Beförderer,” was responsible for 32 of the subscriptions, one of which came from Zimmermann.
6 Darmstadt subscribed for 77 copies. Among the names is that of “Se. Excellenz der Herr Geheimrath von Hesse,” described as the “Beförderer,” and also “Geheimrath und Leibmedicus Hesse.”
7 This mark indicates the end of a sheet.
8 Haym, Herder, ii, 190, refers to seeing this letter, but gives the date as 2 Sept.
9 In view of the wording in the passage to Gleim, above, and in the letter to Klopstock presented here, it is probable that “Bahn” was the editor's misreading for “Base.”
10 The reason for this is not quite clear. Klopstock had married her in 1791, after having lived with the von Winthem household since 1776. The parenthesis might suggest that a previous letter is missing; alternatively, the intimate form of address might be the first liberty (erlauben=verzeihen), and the use of “Frau” instead of “Gemahlin” the second one, for which pardon is “abermals” asked.
11 Ludwig Wilhelm Ernst, born Feb. 1778.
12 Herder permits his reader to supply the name of whichever other crowned despot he prefers.
13 The drawing, by Heinrich Meyer, hung in Herder's study (Suphan, xviii, SS7). It was engraved by Lips.
14 “A chary and infrequent worshipper of the gods” (Horace, Odes i.34).
15 Herder wrote: “indeßen ihn,” then added a “2” over the first word and a “1” over the second.
16 Friederike Brun, née Münter, 1765-1835 (or probably her husband). She was the daughter of the minister of St. Peter's in Copenhagen. See Goedeke, Grundriß, iv.i.705, and ADB, iii, 438.
17 Caroline Adelheid Cornelia, Gräfin von Baudissin, 1759-1826. Daughter of Heinrich Karl Schimmelmann, Danish minister in Dresden, and sister of Gräfin Juliane Reventlow. Her husband was the Danish minister in Berlin. See Goedeke, iv.i.1040, and ADB, ii, 136.
18 Wilhelm Christian Gottfried, born 28 Aug. 1774.
19 I cannot find this actual phrase. Swift frequently refers eulogistically to his own writings, both in prose and verse, at times for humor (as in the Journal to Stella), at other times half seriously (as in the Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift), and at still other times ironically (as in A Tale of a Tub, where he remarks on “my own excellencies” as an author). It is perhaps a case of “A forward critic often dupes us with sham quotations peri hupsous,” designed as a sly dig at Klopstock's known antipathy to Swift.
20 See the odes “Das Fest” and “Unsere Sprache an uns” (1796) and particularly “Einladung” (1797) which took up the theme of Anglo-German rivalry, ever-present in his mind since “Die beiden Musen” (1752).
21 Margaretha Johanna von Winthem, 1766-1841, eldest daughter of Klopstock's wife by her first marriage.
22 The promised leaflet about Aurora was the “Ankündigung” (Suphan, xxiii, 3). Spring and the dawn were favorite images of Klopstock. In the odes I have counted about 50 instances of the former and 40 of the latter, frequently used together. The phrase “Sohn des Mays” occurs in “Die Frühlingsfeier,” and in “Der Nachahmer und der Erfinder” the poet, referring to himself, says “Ein röterer Morgen gebar deinen Freund.”
23 “Everything done and properly completed” doubtless expresses his satisfaction at having dealt systematically with both Klopstock's letters. I have not succeeded in locating its source; Herder was, however, reputedly careless with his quotations, or maybe just chose to put his thought into Latin.
24 Ludwig Wilhelm Ernst: see Letters 2 and 4.
25 I am indebted for this information to Prof. Flach of the Thüringisches Landeshauptarchiv in Weimar. The visit to Hamburg was not in any official capacity, for Dr. Tecke of the Staatsarchiv, Hamburg, assures me that there is no reference to it in the minutes of the Senate. Nor is it mentioned in any of the local private memoirs of the period which I have seen. To these acknowledgments I would like to add my warmest thanks to Prof. Tiemann, Director of the Hamburg Library, for all his help and encouragement, and particularly for the trouble he has taken in checking my transcripts of Herder's letters against the originals.
26 See also “Planatentanz” (Weimar-Ausgabe, xvi, 200), “Annalen” (ibid., xxxv, 126) and “Tagebücher” (ibid., 3/iii, 51).
27 E. von Bojanowski, Louise, Großherzogin von Sachsen-Weimar (Stuttgart: Cotta, 1903), p. 242, prints the following from one of Herder's letters to the Grand-Duchess: “dies also, gnädigste Herzogin, ist mein treuer Bericht, den ich mit Freude über das Vergangene und mit guter Hoffnung auf die Zukunft abstatten kann… . Glück und Segen sei mit Ihnen, gnädigste Herzogin, und von Jahr zu Jahr Freude an Ihrem liebenswürdigen guten, guten Kinde.” That these hopes were not fulfilled may be seen from the Grand-Duchess's lament to her brother after the Prince had returned from the trip to Paris in March 1803. Bojanowski, p. 244, reports this letter in indirect speech as follows: “daß sie den Sohn nicht zu seinem Vorteil verändert finde, wie sie es erwartet hatte. Wohl habe er einige seiner schlechten Angewohnheiten abgelegt, aber immer seien derer noch genug geblieben, um sie zu bekümmern, und wenn der Prinz auch … verspreche, sich zu korrigieren, so sei ihr nicht das Glück zuteil geworden, sich Vertrauen und Hoffnung zu überlassen.”