Wolfgang Goethe, by Georg Brandes

What it is

This is a Danish-language critical study of Goethe by Georg Brandes, published in Copenhagen by Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag in 1915. The copy in the archive is a scan made by the Internet Archive in 2010, with funding from the University of Toronto. The first lines of the preface say that a book about Goethe may seem unnecessary, because far more has been written about him than he wrote himself.

Why it matters

Brandes wrote about Goethe as a person and a nature-minded thinker, not only as a poet. His book shows how a Danish critic of the early twentieth century understood the German writer, and it reflects the wide European interest in Goethe at that time.

Look closer

• Why does Brandes say he wrote about Goethe, and whom did he say it was for?
• What does the author claim is more interesting in Goethe than poetic talent alone?
• How might the author's Danish background shape the picture of Goethe he gives?