The Aesthetic and Miscellaneous Works of Frederick von Schlegel Cambridge Library Collection - Literary Studies Series

Critic, poet and essayist Friedrich von Schlegel (1772?1829) was a leading figure of German Romanticism. This 1849 collection of his shorter works in English translation contains his key insights into literary criticism and art theory. While his early writings had championed classical forms and rejected modern styles, he went on to develop distinctly Romantic aesthetics and ethics. His 1794 treatise 'On the Limits of the Beautiful' demonstrates this philosophical transition in its effort to harmonise the elements of beauty: 'the richness of nature, the purity of love, and the symmetry of art'. Schlegel's other writings here apply his developing Romantic aesthetic to Christian art, Gothic architecture, and medieval poetry. The collection also includes the English translation of his seminal work on comparative grammar, Ueber die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier (1808), which is also reissued in this series in the original German.

Translator's preface; Author's preface; 1. Description of paintings in Paris and the Netherlands in the years 1802–4; 2. Principles of Gothic architecture; 3. Contributions in aid of the study of romantic poetry and genius; 4. Modern German painters; 5. Romantic fictions of the middle ages; 6. Miscellaneous essays; 7. On the limits of the beautiful; 8. On the language and philosophy of the Indians; Index.