Lot 151
151
GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang von (1749-1832). Die Wahlverwandtschaften. Ein Roman. Tübingen: Cotta, 1809.
GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang von (1749-1832). Die Wahlverwandtschaften. Ein Roman. Tübingen: Cotta, 1809.
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GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang von (1749-1832). Die Wahlverwandtschaften. Ein Roman. Tübingen: Cotta, 1809.

Price realised GBP 1,000
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GBP 800 – GBP 1,200
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GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang von (1749-1832). Die Wahlverwandtschaften. Ein Roman. Tübingen: Cotta, 1809.

Price realised GBP 1,000
Price realised GBP 1,000
DetailsMore from
Details
GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang von (1749-1832). Die Wahlverwandtschaften. Ein Roman. Tübingen: Cotta, 1809.

First edition of Goethe's masterpiece that provoked outrage with its treatment of adultery, and his thematic exploration of human relationships reflecting contemporary scientific concerns. Goethe borrowed the term 'elective affinity' from chemistry, and shows his intensive activity in the natural sciences during these years. 'What makes it worthy of reappraisal is how it puts science at the centre of human concerns — and humans at the centre of science. Goethe emphasized the primacy of human perception in understanding nature as a holistic entity, in contrast to the quantitative methods and mechanical Universe of the Enlightenment era' (Bell). The protagonists of Goethe's novel undergo shifts in their relations due to changing attractions akin to chemical bonding. On the one hand they are like elements, the characters having no choice but to make new bonds, their fate determined by their own innate properties; on the other, they consciously experiment on themselves suggesting the possibility of free will, or at least 'establishing empiricism as a metaphor for human relations' (Bell). Since publication, Elective Affinities has continued to influence writers, such as George Eliot and Ford Madox Ford; Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (1993) is very much based on Goethe's work. Matthew Bell, 'In retrospect: Elective Affinities' in Nature 516, 168–169, 2014; Hagen 327.

2 volumes, octavo (163 x 96mm). Half-titles (occasional light spotting and browning). Original publisher's boards (extremities rubbed).
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