CitizenWald OP , 5 months ago

Speaking of Grillparzer, here's the first edition of his Die Ahnfrau (1817). The preface notes that, although he shortened and revised the drama for the stage, he hopes the public will read the full text presented here. He also defends himself against critics, above all, those who read this exemplar of the Schicksalsdrama or tragedy of fate, as endorsing superstition or a fatalist worldview

text only (in Fraktur/old German typeface) First page of the preface, in which he explains the difference between the version adapted for the stage and the full text presented here, which, he says--beginning to pivot to the dialogue with critics, he says, he hopes the public will take the trouble to read in order to refute the various misunderstandings.
the remaining two pages of the preface in which Grillparzer--with reference t Shakespeare and Calderon--refutes accusations that he excuses one crime with another, or endorses pagan notions of destiny and fatalism. Finally, he takes up the more general status status of author and critic (he was then only in his mid-twenties)

CitizenWald OP , 5 months ago

And (why not?): the first edition (1830) of Grillparzer's Ein treuer Diener seines Herrn (a loyal servant of his lord), a historical drama set in medieval Hungary

rare original paper wrapper has owner's stamp of Carl Gerold's Sohn, Vienna, a publisher with whom Grillparzer would have preferred to work

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Gerold%E2%80%99s_Sohn_Verlag_(Gerold_Verlag)#Der_%E2%80%9EFall_Grillparzer%E2%80%9C#Der_%E2%80%9EFall_Grillparzer%E2%80%9C)

#drama #BookHistory #Germanistik @bookhistodons @bookstodon

title page (dampstaining in upper right corner)