HUNDERT SENTENZEN
Pocket collection of religious maxims by the charismatic Swiss poet, theologian, public intellectual, one-time friend of Goethe, and "one of the most celebrated and influential literary characters of his time" (Julian, 666).
Very good plus.
Price: $1,250.00
HUNDERT SENTENZEN
"Frage bey jedem Beginn: Was will ich?" [Ask at every beginning: What do I want?]
Today Lavater (1741-1801) is best known in the English-speaking world for his work on physiognomy, but his output was much larger and more varied than his study of facial features in search of character. He especially liked to work in aphoristic forms, where he could be both poetic and philosophical, and which played to his style, which "became strange and effusive" (Wolff, 33). His 1788 APHORISMS ON MAN (translated into English by his friend, the painter Henry Fuseli) was "enormously popular" (Erle, 347), with five editions by 1795. Today it is most famous for the inspiration it provided William Blake, who provided four engravings for the work and whose extensively annotated copy is held by the Huntington Library.
Lavater was "a lovable, genuine, frank-hearted man, who was the object of an almost incredible veneration" in his generation (Julian, 666). He promoted an enthusiastic approach to self-knowledge in his writings, encouraging his audience to look within themselves. His aphorisms are indeed more like effusions, full of feeling and optimism; "if whim should appear to have dictated [some]," he notes in his intro to APHORISMS ON MAN, "it was the whim of humanity" (vi). A number of his Christian aphorisms found a lasting legacy adapted into hymns.
This work was issued in an unusual format, palm-sized and oblong, exactly suited to printing two aphorisms per page, ready to be opened at random. In the conscious way its content affects its form (and vice versa), the publication has something of the feel of a modern artist's book, while looking back to the earlier humanist tradition of commonplace books. A compelling production and quite scarce: we find no record of its appearance at auction and only two holdings via OCLC (both in Switzerland).
Read more: Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology; Wolff, Encyclopädie der deutschen national-literatur (vol. 5); Erle, "Leaving Their Mark: Lavater, Fuseli and Blake's Imprint on Aphorisms on Man," Comparative Studies, vol. 3, issue 3.
The Object
First edition thus. Basel: Felix Schneider, 1827. 1.5'' x 3.5''. Contemporary full maroon goatskin, gilt-lettered spine, gilt- and blind-stamped rules. Marbled endpapers, all edges stained yellow. Green printed title label. [104] pages. Some areas of shallow rubbing to front joint and edges, faint sunning to spine, else firm and bright.
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