Chapter II: Introduction

The important influence which German literature has exercised on American culture and literature extends from the early part of the nineteenth century. This influence was, in a measure, a continuation of the interest and activity that had existed in England during the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Prior to 1790, numerous translations from Gellert, Wieland, Klopstock, Lessing, Goethe and Schiller appeared from time to time, but it was not until William Taylor of Norwich began to write, that the movement, which culminated in the works of Coleridge, Carlyle and others, assumed definite form.[1]

[Footnote 1: John L. Haney, _German Literature in England
before 1790_, in the _Americana Germanica_, IV, No. 2.

Cf. also, Dr. Haney's monograph, _The German Influence on
Samuel Taylor Coleridge_, Philadelphia, 1902.

Georg Herzfeld, _William Taylor von Norwich_, Halle a. S.
1897.]

American literature at this time was still subservient to that of England and it is not surprising that the new literary impulse from Germany should have found reflection on this side of the Atlantic. This foreign influence was further aided by direct contact with Europe. By the second or third decade of the last century the studies of American scholars abroad became an important factor in our intellectual development. In 1819 Edward Everett returned from Europe to become professor of Greek at Harvard University. He had studied at the University of Goettingen, where he had become enthusiastic for the methods of German scholarship. While in Europe he secured for Harvard College a large number of German books, which soon proved to be a stimulus to the students of the institution. In 1823 W. E. Channing in his _Remarks on National Literature_ advocated the study of French and German authors, so that our literature might attain a position of independence from that of England.[2] Two years later, in 1825, Karl Follen entered upon his duties at Harvard College as instructor in German.[3]

[Footnote 2: _The Works of William E. Channing_, Boston,
1849. Geo. D. Channing. Vol. I-277.

Cf. also, the remark of Francis Hopkinson, p. 194.]

[Footnote 3: As early as 1754 William Creamer (or Cramer) was
appointed Professor of the French and German Languages, at
the University of Pennsylvania, which position he held for
twenty-one years. In 1780 a German Professorship of Philology
was established in the same institution. J. C. Kunze, the
first appointee, lectured in German on Latin and Greek. After
1784, his successor, J. H. C. Helmuth, carried out the same
policy.

Cf. M. D. Learned, _Address at the Opening of the Bechstein
Library_, University of Pennsylvania, March 21, 1896.]

Before Edward Everett went abroad to study, however, American scholars had begun to seek wider cultural advantages at the centres of learning in Europe.[4] They were mostly theological students, or men more or less closely connected with the diplomatic service. The most prominent among the latter class was John Quincy Adams, who spent several years in Europe. His interest in German literature is shown by the fact that he translated Wieland's _Oberon_, which however was not published, because Sotheby's translation had just appeared in London.[5]

[Footnote 4: Benjamin Franklin's visit to the University of
Goettingen is described in the _Goettingische Anzeigen_ for
Sept. 13, 1766, which states that the session of the Royal
Society of Sciences held on the 19th of the preceding July
was more impressive than usual. "The two famous English
scholars, the royal physician, Mr. Pringle, and Mr. Benjamin
Franklin, from Pennsylvania, who happened to be at that time
in Goettingen on a trip through Germany, took their seats as
members of the society."

Cf. the account by Dr. E. J. James (_The Nation_, Apr. 18,
1895, p. 296), reprinted in B. A. Hinsdale's article _Foreign
Influence upon Education in the United States_, published in
the _Report of the Commissioner of Education_, 1897-98. Vol.
I, pp. 604-607.

Cf. also, L. Viereck, _German Instruction in American
Schools_, ibid., 1900-1901. Vol. I, p. 543.]

[Footnote 5: Adams wrote also an account of his journey to
Silesia in July, 1800. This was in the form of twenty-nine
letters to his brother, written during the trip, and thirteen
more added after his return to Berlin. Although they were
private communications, the editor of the _Port Folio_
secured them for his magazine and printed them anonymously,
without suppressing personal references, as the author would
have done, had he known of the publication.

"Whether these passages ever came under the observation of
the persons affected is not certain. So long as they remained
confined to the columns of an American publication of that
day, the probabilities would favor the negative. But they
were not so confined. Again, without the knowledge or consent
of the author, an individual, unknown to him, but fully aware
of the facts in the case nevertheless took the collection
from the _Portfolio_ to London, and there had them printed
for his own benefit, in an octavo volume, in the year 1804.
From this copy they were rendered into German, and published
at Breslau the next year, with notes, by Frederick Albert
Zimmerman; and in 1807 a translation made into French, by J.
Dupuy, was published in Paris by Dentu.

"Thus it happened that these letters, originally intended as
purely familiar correspondence, obtained a free circulation
over a large part of Europe without the smallest agency on
the part of the author, or any opportunity to correct and
modify them as he certainly would have done had he ever
possessed the power."

_Memoirs of John Quincy Adams_, Edited by Charles Francis
Adams. 12 vols., Philadelphia, 1874. Vol. I, 240-241.

The American publication began in the _Port Folio_, I-1, Jan.
3, 1801, Phila. For a review of the English edition, cf. _The
Monthly Review or Literary Journal_, XLV-350, December, 1804,
London.]

A little later, in 1809, Alexander Hill Everett went to Russia as secretary to the legation and spent several years in different cities on the continent.[6] George Ticknor visited Germany in 1815 to prepare for his duties as professor of modern languages at Harvard; and George Bancroft, after graduating from college in 1817, studied for five years at Goettingen, Heidelberg and Berlin. Henry E. Dwight was at Goettingen from 1824-1828 and in the next year published in New York _Travels in the North of Germany, 1825-6_. It was about this time that James Fenimore Cooper began his European travels, which lasted from 1826 to 1833.[7] Thus, American scholars had been acquiring German thought and culture at first hand, before Longfellow or Emerson went abroad for the first time. With these two the German influence in America reached its height--Longfellow in literature, and Emerson in his transcendental philosophy.

[Footnote 6: "He [A. H. Everett] had probably studied German
while he was associated with John Quincy Adams in St.
Petersburg, where German influence was strong and the study
of the language and literature could be pursued under the
most favorable conditions. The _United States Magazine and
Democratic Review_, New York, Vol. X (N. S.) 1842--p. 461,
states that he studied at St. Petersburg, among other things,
the modern languages."

Frederick H. Wilkens, _Early Influence of German Literature
in America_ in the _Americana Germanica_, III, No. 2, p.
155.]

[Footnote 7: M. D. Learned, _German as a Culture Element in
American Education_, Milwaukee, 1898.]

This was the second channel by which German literature became known in this country. The first, as has already been indicated, came indirectly through England. There, considerable activity in this line had been manifest since 1790. Books of translations were published and the magazines contained many fugitive pieces from the German. It is chiefly a reflex of this interest that we find in American periodicals to the end of 1810.

In America, likewise, German literature was made known to English readers by means of translations either in book form or in the magazines. The subject of translations in book form has been treated in the recent article by Wilkens already mentioned. He discusses German drama, fiction, poetry, philosophy, theology and pedagogy, and gives in an appendix "A List of the Translations of German Literature that were printed in the United States before 1826." These books, however, were not the first means of introducing German authors to American readers. The first mention of this foreign literature we find, as a rule, in the magazines. Here are numerous accounts of the lives of German writers, criticism of their books, notices of editions (English or American) and besides these, many translations of poetry and the shorter prose works. These articles or translations do not, of course, antedate the earliest appearance of the same works in England, but it is safe to say that whatever information on German literature was offered in the American magazines reached the American public sooner than the copies of an English book sent over here to be sold. Many readers learned to know foreign literature through the medium of the periodicals who would not think of purchasing all the books, of which they had read reviews or selections. This was especially true of the poetry. The prose works were usually too long for republication in the magazines and could be announced only through critiques or abstracts. Even here, however, some of the longer pieces appeared, such as _The Apparitionist_ (Schiller's _Geisterseher_) in the _N. Y. Weekly Mag._, I-16, etc., 1795, N. Y., and in the same magazine II-4, etc., Tschink's _Victim of Magical Delusion_, while _The Mirror of Taste and Dramatic Censor_, I, 1810, contains _Emilia Galotti_, translated by Miss Fanny Holcroft. These prose pieces, being long, were continued from number to number, but for the poetry this was not necessary. Poems of the size of Klopstock's _Messiah_ or Gessner's _Death of Abel_ appeared in the magazines only in selections or extracts, while on the other hand most of the lyric poems, being short, could very easily be reprinted entire in translation. With hardly an exception, the short poems of German authors appeared in America in the periodicals some time before they were issued in book form; for example, the earliest publication of Gessner's _Idyls_ mentioned by Wilkens was in 1802,[8] whereas single idyls had been translated for the magazines in 1774, 1775, 1792, 1795, 1798, 1799, two in 1793, three in 1796 and five in 1801. Similarly, the first American imprint of M. G. Lewis' _Tales of Wonder_ was issued in New York in 1801, while five selections in it had already appeared in the _Weekly Mag._, 1798-9, Phila.[9] In addition to these there were found in the American magazines before 1811, ten translations from Buerger, eight from Gellert, five from Lessing, four from Haller, three from Goethe, two each from Jacobi, Klopstock, Matthisson and Schickaneder, and one each from "Adelio," Buerde, Kotzebue, Patzke, "Sheller," and "Van Vander Horderclogeth," together with several translations, for which the name of the original author was not given. None of these were printed in book form before 1826.[10]

[Footnote 8: _New Idyls_, by S. Gessner. Philadelphia, 1802.]

[Footnote 9:

Buerger, _Leonora_ [Wm. Taylor--some variants], Vol. I-221.
Buerger, _The Chase_ [Sir Walter Scott], Vol. II-413.
----, _The Water King_ [M. G. Lewis], Vol. III-92.
Goethe, _The Erl-King_ [M. G. Lewis], Vol. III-93.
----, _The Erl-King's Daughter_ [M. G. Lewis], Vol. III-94.

The last three, however, were also in Lewis' _Ambrosio or the
Monk_, Philadelphia, 1798.]

[Footnote 10: Wilkens' _List_. Two selections from Buerger and
two from Goethe appeared in Lewis' collections, but no
editions of their poems exclusively were issued. Klopstock's
_Messiah_ was published three times before 1811, but not his
shorter poems.]

The first translations of German poetry printed in America are to be sought, therefore, in the magazines and it was here also that the public received its first information about the lives of the German literati. It is the object of the present study to consider the German influence in the early American periodicals, treating especially the translations of German poetry published in them.[11] Together with these are to be found in Part III translations from the other Teutonic literatures more or less closely connected with the German, namely, translations of Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic poetry, and also original poems on German literature, history, biography, etc.,--for example, _Ode on the late Victory obtained by the King of Prussia_, _Charlotte's Soliloquy--to the Manes of Werter_, and _Burlesque on the Style, in which most of the German romantic Ballads are written_. To this has been added a list of translations of German prose, and a list of original articles on Germany, etc., so that a complete estimate of the German influence in these magazines can thus be obtained.

[Footnote 11: Wilkens mentions about a dozen magazines
incidentally but no attempt has been made to investigate this
field.]

The scope of the present work comprises the American magazines published before 1811. By the term "American magazines" is meant all magazines published in English, whether in the United States or Canada. Periodicals in German, Spanish, French or other foreign languages have been excluded. In as much as the study is primarily concerned with literature it has been necessary, on account of the great scope of the subject, to omit publications of a non-literary type, e. g., newspapers, gazettes, periodicals dealing solely with history, religious magazines, almanacs, etc. This method of exclusion is not an easy one, for during the period under discussion the magazine and the newspaper approached each other, the former printed news and the latter gave specimens of literature, usually short poems. It happened sometimes that a translation which appeared in a magazine had been printed first in a newspaper. For example, _The Name Unknown_, "Imitated from Klopstock's ode to his future mistress. By Thomas Campbell," is to be found in the _Newport Mercury_, 1803, Newport, just three years before it was printed in _The Evening Fireside_, II-165, Phila. This illustrates the importance of the newspaper in this connection, especially since the latter contained also numerous paragraphs on things German, but it is a field for separate investigation and in this connection must take second place as compared with the literary periodicals.

Similarly the religious magazines often contain poems relative to our subject, so that it has been necessary to include some of these publications. Thus, the _Boston Observer and Religious Intelligencer_, I-152, 1835, Boston, contains the poem _Trust in God_, "Translated from the German," whereas others indicate on their title page their dual character, e. g., _The Literary and Theological Review_, 1834-39, N. Y., _The Monthly Miscellany of Religion and Letters_, 1839, etc., Boston, and _The Monthly Mag. of Religion and Literature_, 1840, Gettysburg. Most of the religious magazines, however, belong to the period after 1810.

Lastly, even some of the almanacs come almost within the range of the present discussion, for the earlier ones have poems[12] and interesting information, and were carefully read by the general public. Most of these had their vogue before the literary magazine became prominent and therefore represent a period before the German literary influence had made itself felt. Of those that were examined, none contained material to warrant their inclusion in the list given in Part V.

[Footnote 12: _Universal American Almanack, or Yearly Mag._,
1764, Phila., contains a poem entitled _Golden Verse of
Pythagoras_.]

Whenever periodicals were found to be of the types just mentioned, they were omitted from further consideration. There are two other kinds of publications, however, that have been included in the present investigation. The first is the English magazine reprinted in this country. Since it is impossible to exclude all translations in American magazines made by Englishmen--as will be shown later on--it has been found practical to take, as the basis of selection, all periodicals actually published on this side of the Atlantic. The only examples of this class that fall within our period are _The Mirror_, I-II, 1803, Phila.--a reprint of a magazine of the same name, that appeared in Edinburgh, 1779-1780, _The Connoisseur_, I-IV, 1803, Phila. (London, 1755) and _The Quarterly Review_, I-IV, printed in London and reprinted in New York, 1810. In some instances the material in the American edition differs from that of the English, so that it is quite necessary to include this class of periodicals.

The other type of publications, alluded to, is the miscellany. It contained poems, prose selections and articles on a wide range of subjects. It differed from the magazine simply in one respect, namely, that it was issued with less regularity. It offers, however, valuable additions to the present collection.[13] Thus, even by omitting all irrelevant publications, the field is a broad one and rich in important material.

[Footnote 13: _Curiosities of Literature_, 1793, Philadelphia.
_Miscellanies_, 1796, Burlington.
_A Book_, a periodical work, 1807, New York.
_The Thistle_, 1807, Boston.
_Charms of Literature_, 1808, Trenton.
_The Hive_, 1810, Hartford.]

In any investigation of the early American magazines the difficulty of locating copies is apparent. The editions of many of these periodicals were small, especially if issued from the less important literary centers; so that now, after the lapse of a hundred years, their volumes are extremely hard to trace. Another fact that aided in the disappearance of these publications was their short existence. If a periodical, like the _American Museum_ or the _Port Folio_, ran for a number of years, it became well known and its volumes were carefully preserved. The libraries attempted to get complete sets and thus the magazine was made accessible for future generations. A large number of these magazines, however, had a precarious existence for a year or more, and then were discontinued for lack of support. Indeed, the many failures among these literary ventures cause one to wonder why others were undertaken, and yet year after year new magazines were launched on the market with full anticipation of success. This certainly indicates a widespread demand for this class of literature and if the kind offered did not happen to suit the taste, the fickle public was constantly deserting the old for the new.

The investigator is moreover impeded in his progress by lack of definite and trustworthy information about these publications. There is no complete list of the American magazines during the years under discussion, although work has been done on the period to the end of 1800. Paul Leicester Ford published a _Check-list of American magazines printed in the eighteenth century_ (1889, Brooklyn, N. Y.). This was an attempt to list all publications referred to by any writer, whether accessible or not. The present investigation, however, has brought to light thirty-five or forty volumes of magazines (including twenty new titles), evidently unknown to Ford, not to speak of several newspapers of more or less literary value; but the latter seem to have been omitted intentionally from the _Check-list_.

Even the magazines of Philadelphia, the literary center of the country during the eighteenth century, have not been listed. "A complete list of the Philadelphia magazines is impossible. Many of them have disappeared and left not a rack behind. The special student of Pennsylvania history will detect some omissions in these pages, for all that has here been done has been done at first hand, and where a magazine was inaccessible to me, I have not attempted to see it through the eyes of a more fortunate investigator."[14] What is here said of Philadelphia is equally true of Boston, New York, Baltimore and the other centers of literary activity of a century ago.

[Footnote 14: Albert H. Smyth, _The Philadelphia Magazines
and their Contributors_, 1741-1850. Philadelphia, Robert M.
Lindsay, 1892. Preface, p. 5.]

In spite of the difficulties just mentioned it has been possible, after an extended search, to find enough volumes of the magazines to form an almost complete list for the period in question. What omissions there may be are, for the most part, obscure and unimportant publications, which failed to attract enough attention to be included in the large collections of this class of literature. One condition favored the preservation of the American magazines; there were a few institutions, like the Philadelphia Library Company, the American Philosophical Society, and others, which were in existence during the period when most of these publications were issued. It has been possible for them to amass a fairly representative collection of contemporaneous literature. On the other hand, more recent institutions, like the Boston Public Library or the Library of Congress, have displayed such industry in collecting, that they now have splendid lists of these early periodicals.

The plan of the present investigation has been, therefore, to visit those libraries where large numbers of the books needed are located and thus, by combining the material secured in the different places, to approach as near as possible to completeness. One library fills out the gaps of another and it often happens that, in order to see the entire set of a magazine, it is necessary to visit three or four libraries. A record has been kept as to where the individual volumes are, but as useful as this information might be for those working in the same or in a kindred field it has been found too complex to be indicated in the list of magazines given in Part V.[15] The material here included is based on a personal examination of about three hundred volumes representing one hundred and twenty-eight different magazines.

[Footnote 15: A list of the libraries consulted is given at
the beginning of Part V.]

In treating the German influence in the American magazines, it is important to consider the position which the magazine held during this early period. Difference in conditions enabled the periodical to play quite a different role from that which it now plays. In the eighteenth century, as compared with the present day, free libraries were scarce and readers had to depend largely on the books they could buy or borrow. Then, too, books were expensive, because many had to be imported from abroad, and those printed here could not be sold as cheaply as now. These conditions favored the magazines, which were inexpensive and furnished to their readers, besides original matter, republications of the best literature of Europe. They kept the public abreast with the times and supplied the place now occupied by the numerous libraries and books which can be purchased at a moderate cost.

Another element which the magazine of a century ago did not have to contend with so vigorously was the newspaper. The modern newspaper is becoming larger and larger, and is making increased demand every day on the time and interest of the public. In the eighteenth century and the first decade of the nineteenth this was not the case. To be sure, there were many newspapers, gazettes and advertisers, but they were comparatively small in size, consisting usually of only four or six pages. "At the period of the American Revolution, journalism had nowhere reached [an] advanced stage of effectiveness. In America, especially, the newspapers were petty, dingy, languid, inadequate affairs; and the department of the newspaper now devoted to editorial writing, then scarcely existed at all."[16] Many editors considered the news available to be sufficient merely for a weekly instead of a daily issue. This is not surprising. With the absence of the modern telegraph, telephone, ocean cable and steam railroad the facility for getting news from a distance was greatly diminished. Then, too, as the population of the country was much smaller than now, the most important domestic news could be told in a few columns. All this tended to keep the newspapers within moderate proportions, and although they were numerous, it is safe to say that they did not make such a demand on the reader's time as to divert his attention from a more serious kind of literature. People had, therefore, plenty of leisure for careful perusal of the magazines, and these, by giving in many cases a summary of the news, decreased the necessity for the newspaper. For advertisements and business announcements the gazettes and advertisers were the main source, but for general information and current literature persons did not have to devote so much attention to the newspaper.

[Footnote 16: M. C. Tyler, _The Literary History of the
American Revolution_, I, 1763-1776, New York, 1897, p. 18.]

As far as can be learned, the magazine in this early period was regarded in a more serious light than to-day. It was not a means to while away an idle hour--something to be glanced at hastily and then thrown aside. The editors attempted, on the contrary, to give the best literature at their disposal, whether original or reprint, and endeavored to improve the public taste by selecting matter that would be acceptable to a scholarly audience. "A striking difference between the older magazine and the recent ones is the conspicuous absence from the journal of a century ago of what is commonly called 'light literature.'"[17]

[Footnote 17: Smyth, _op. cit._, p. 20.]

Tyler mentions the same conditions. "Our colonial journalism soon became, in itself, a really important literary force. It could not remain forever a mere disseminator of public gossip, or a placard for the display of advertisements. The instinct of critical and brave debate was strong even among those puny editors, and it kept struggling for expression. Moreover, each editor was surrounded by a coterie of friends, with active brains and a propensity to utterance; and these constituted a sort of unpaid staff of editorial contributors, who, in various forms,--in letters, essays, anecdotes, epigrams, poems, lampoons,--helped to give vivacity and even literary value to the paper."[18]

[Footnote 18: M. C. Tyler, _A History of American
Literature_, II, 1676-1765, New York, 1878, pp. 304, 305.]

Considering these facts, it is seen that the magazines of the period under discussion played a more important role in the cultural development of the people than they do now. They were not as numerous, nor were so many copies of each number issued then as now, but the population was also much smaller, and consequently a smaller number of periodicals sufficed, although relatively they may have been as numerous. One thing seems certain,--in the absence of so much other reading matter, the magazine went into the home and was perused with care by the different members of the household. We have only to refer to the attention given to the almanacs during a period slightly earlier, and these did not attempt to present as much entertaining literature as the magazines. The prominence of these literary periodicals in the development of American thought and culture is usually overlooked, but should certainly be recognized in the history of literature in America.

All this is very pertinent to the subject. The importance of the translations and poems, here reprinted, in bringing things German before the American public depends naturally upon the importance of the channel by which they were introduced. From what has just been said, it is evident that the magazine not only had a wider and freer scope then than now, but also attempted to preserve as high a literary and scholarly standard as was possible for that day. What was admitted to its pages had therefore considerable weight and influence, and became known at once as far as the magazine circulated. It is for this reason that the appearance of so many poems and prose articles relating to the German countries becomes so important, and the interest here aroused was to increase many fold in the decades immediately following.

The publication of translations of German poetry in the American magazines indicates a twofold activity. In the first place it shows active interest and enthusiasm on the part of a few individuals who read and appreciated German literature and who had the ability not only to understand the foreign poetry but also to translate it for their fellow countrymen. How many there were who could read the original, it is impossible to say, but these translators were certainly only a small part of the Americans who understood German. In the second place the appearance of German poems in the magazines indicates a growing acquaintance with German literature, on the part of the public at large. From the fact that the number of translations increased from year to year we may infer that they found favor in the eyes of the readers. Even if the circulation of the individual magazines was small, the combined effect of so many must have been considerable.

It may seem at first thought that relatively few poems have been collected in proportion to the ground covered.[19] There is a limitation, however, that must not be overlooked. Only a small part of each magazine was devoted to poetry and, after the original productions and the republications of English verse (which naturally received first consideration), German could only hope for its share along with the other foreign literatures. It is remarkable how many foreign literatures are represented in the sections of these magazines devoted to poetry. There are translations from the Latin, French, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Norse (Icelandic), Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Irish, Welsh, Greek, Laplandish, Persian and Turkish. In all this mass of translations, German ranks perhaps third as regards quantity; it is exceeded only by the Latin and French.[20] This is true, however, only for the period to the end of 1810. The situation in the three succeeding decades is very different, but will be discussed at a later time.

[Footnote 19: There are in the magazines of the period, 71
translations of German poetry and 10 duplicates; 68 original
poems and translations of other Teutonic poetry, and 24
duplicates.]

[Footnote 20: No list of the translations from the Latin and
French in these magazines has been made, so that a numerical
comparison with those from the German is at present
impossible.]

There is another reason why these magazines did not contain more translations from the German. The period under consideration coincides very closely with the classical epoch of German literature and many of the masterpieces were not issued until near the end. _Hermann und Dorothea_ appeared in 1797 and _Wallenstein_ three years later, while _Wilhelm Tell_ was not finished until 1804 and the completed _Faust_ (first and second parts) was published twenty-three years after the period closes. The dates of much of the classical German literature precluded the possibility of its being translated until two thirds of the period had passed. However valuable these works are, it is not remarkable that they should not have become known immediately on this side of the Atlantic. For the Germans here, the originals were all that were needed, and it naturally took some time for the English part of the population to realize the worth of the books and to demand translations. These causes, then, prevented the German influence in the magazines from assuming larger proportions.

The period treated in the present study is from 1741 to 1810 inclusive. The year 1741 is chosen as marking the beginning of the American periodicals of a literary type. The publications of an earlier date that were examined were devoted almost entirely to news, or were almanacs that contained no literary material, for example, the _New England Kalendar_, I, 1706, Boston, or the _New Weekly Journal_, 1728, Boston. These have been omitted from the list. It is therefore not until 1741 that our period really begins. The two magazines which were to be the pioneers of this extensive class of American literature had been announced in the previous year. The _Phila. Weekly Mercury_ (Oct. 30, 1740) gives the prospectus of a magazine to be edited by John Webbe and printed by Andrew Bradford; while in the _Pennsylvania Gazette_ (Nov. 13, 1740) Franklin announced _The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle for all the British Plantations in America_. A bitter controversy soon arose,--Franklin claiming that Webbe had stolen his plans, and Webbe accusing Franklin of using his position as Postmaster to exclude the _Mercury_ from the mail. Both magazines were issued in January, 1741; Webbe's journal, _The American Magazine; or a Monthly View of the Political State of the British Colonies_, ran for three months and Franklin's for six months.[21] With these, then, the investigation for the present subject begins. As has been indicated, the work has been extended to the end of the year 1840. After that, German literature was established as a well known factor in our intellectual development, as is shown by the numerous books of translations and imitations, and the magazines were, henceforth, less important in this particular. The period here treated extends only to the end of 1810. These years witnessed the beginning of the movement and the first period of considerable activity in this field. During the years immediately following 1810 there was a decline in the German literary influence in the American magazines.[22]

[Footnote 21: John Bach McMaster, _Benjamin Franklin as a Man
of Letters_, Boston, 1887, p. 129 seq.]

[Footnote 22: A similar decline in the German literary
influence was noticed also in England after 1810.]

To estimate definitively the amount of literary activity in America with respect to things German, as illustrated by these translations and poems, would require considerable information concerning the translators. If the translator lived in England and his work was simply reprinted in an American magazine, the literary activity belongs more to England than to this country; but the fact that the poem was reprinted shows a desire to acquaint readers here with foreign poetry, the only difference being that the influence came through England and not from Germany direct. Where the works printed are from the pen of an American, they represent not only the ability of the writer to appreciate German, but also the active interest to reproduce it for the American public; the translation is then entirely an American product. As to Englishmen here doing this kind of work, it would be of advantage to know whether they were merely travelers or sojourners, or had been here long enough to be considered an integral part of our civilization. However useful this information would be, it is, in a majority of cases, unobtainable. Most of the translations appeared without any indication as to authorship. One thing that may partly account for this was the tendency of the early magazines to copy and plagiarize. Scores of poems were found which had previously been printed in other periodicals (American or English), but for the source of which no credit was given. Even the author's name was suppressed. In one instance an editor inserted a poem that had appeared in the very same magazine one or two years earlier, and yet the readers were to receive it as something new.[23] The only possible means of identification in these cases is by comparison with published collections of translations. Several translations have thus been traced to Sir Walter Scott, M. G. Lewis, William Taylor of Norwich and others. Many are reprints from English magazines, concerning which it is impossible at present to give more accurate information. The subject has not been investigated with respect to the English periodicals, and since their number is far greater than the American, it would require a separate study to prepare a list of translations from the German published in them. It is, therefore, impracticable to exclude from the present discussion translations and poems by Englishmen, for it is only where the author's name is mentioned, or a note given, stating that the translation was made for such and such a magazine, that we can be sure whether it was an American product or not. The important fact is that the translation appeared in America and helped to make known to American readers certain specimens of German literature.

[Footnote 23: _The Moss Rose_, From the German [of
Krummacher]. _The Minerva_, I-40, May 4, 1822 and II-296,
Dec. 20, 1823, N. Y.]

In the selection of material certain limitations were necessary. In the list of prose translations and articles dealing with the German countries, everything has been mentioned which refers directly or indirectly to Germany. This is important in giving a complete estimate of the interest shown, for there was a desire to know something about German prose works, German biography and history as well as German poetry. From the list of translations reprinted here, however, have been excluded all translations of dramas except certain selections, such as songs or short scenes approaching the lyrical mood. In most of the portions of dramas reproduced the passages are too long for republication or the interest is wholly dramatic and not lyric. The subject of the present study is, then, specifically--the German lyric poetry which appeared in English in the magazines of America.

The term "poetry" is here taken in a liberal sense and includes more than the translations of German verse alone. Some translations were found whose originals, though prosaic in form, are poetic in content. This was readily recognized by the translators, who have accordingly given metrical renderings. For example, we have _Letter LXI of the Sorrows of Werter Versified_; four of Gessner's prose idyls have been rendered into verse, and in the later period Krummacher's prose fable, _The Moss Rose_, appears five times in verse (1819, 1822, 1823, 1829, 1831) and twice in prose (1827, 1833). Similarly, prose translations of German verse have been included, e. g., two fables from Gellert (1796), _Morning_, from Haller (1793), and the Swiss song, _Ranz des Vaches_ (1805).[24] On the other hand, prose translations of Gessner's prose idyls are recorded by title only. Another poem of a different class must be mentioned. In the volumes examined only one German poem written in America was found. This was _Hoffnung_ by "Adelio" and a note stated that it was written "For the Philadelphia Repository" (Feb. 18, 1804, Phila.). At the end were the words: "A poetical translation is requested." The following number (Feb. 25) contained a translation.

[Footnote 24: The _Ranz des Vaches_ has also four metrical
versions:

1833--_The Lady's Book_, VI-164.
1833--_The Juvenile Rambler_, II-84.
1835--_Amer. Mo. Mag._, V-424.
1809--_The Visitor_, I-72 (entitled _Cow Boy's Chant_).]

Another group of poems calling for some attention includes those translated from the French. These are of two kinds. In the first place there are poems written in French by Germans or Swiss, such as the poems of Frederick the Great, and also the _Ranz des Vaches_. As to the latter, the French verses are given in two instances together with the translation,[25] so that it is certain what the original was. In other instances no mention is made of the source. Since part of the population of Switzerland has always been German, a German form of the song very likely existed. It is difficult, therefore, to say whether this or the French version was used by the translator. The title is French but this might have been retained for the German stanzas.

[Footnote 25: _Boston Weekly Mag._, III-60, Feb. 2, 1805,
Boston.

_The Visitor_, I-72, June 3, 1809, Richmond. ]

The second class of translations from the French comprehends those from authors who usually wrote in German; thus, _Navigation_, "From the French of Gessner" (1803), and _The Usurer_, "From the French of Gellert" (_Port Folio_, XVI-245, 1823). Either these may have been taken from French translations of the German,[26] or the word "French" may be a mistake.[27] This second group has been classed with the translations of German poetry (Part II); while the first group from the French belongs to Part III.

[Footnote 26: The British Museum catalogue mentions "_Fables
et Contes_ [trans. principally from the German of C. F.
Gellert, etc.], 1754."]

[Footnote 27: Cf. _The Earth's Division_, "Trans. from Goethe
[sic], by L. E. L." _Waldie's Port Folio_, Part I-123, Apr.
11, 1835, Phila.

Also, _Benevolence_, "A Fable from the German of Galleret"
[sic], 1802.]

No attempt is here made to discuss the critical estimate that the Americans of this period placed upon German literature. This would require a consideration of all the prose articles, whereas the present study has been devoted entirely to the poetry. It is hoped that, from the list given in Part IV, such information may be obtained. Besides the several paragraphs on German literati, the individual poems are often preceded by an introductory note praising the original of the translation. Even back in the eighteenth century, people were considering the utility of the modern languages as opposed to the classics. The _American Museum_, for example, published a _Speech on the learned languages_, by the Hon. Francis Hopkinson, which concludes with the remark that the "languages most in use are, in truth, the most useful to be known."[28]

[Footnote 28: _Amer. Mus._, III, Jan.-June, 1788, p. 539. Cf.