Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock THE MESSIAH ATTEMPTED FROM THE GERMAN OF MR KLOPSTOCK 1788 Early American Imprint Leather-Bound Translated By Joseph Collyer Epic Poem Dactylic Hexameter German Poetry Redemption Of Mankind Contemplation Hell Devils Transformation

b>Title: The Messiah, Attempted from the German of Mr. Klopstock
Author: Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock - Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was a German poet. His best known work is his epic poem "Der Messias" (“The Messiahâ€). His service to German literature was to open it up to exploration outside of French models.
Translator: Joseph Collyer - Joseph Collyer, the elder, was a compiler and translator. He edited the translation of Klopstock's ‘Messiah,’ made by his wife, Mary Collyer, and was himself the author of: a translation of Bodmer's ‘Noah,’ 1767; ‘A New System of Geography,’ in conjunction with Fenning and others; History of England from the Invasion of Julius Cæsar to the calling of the Parliament in l774,’ 14 vols. London, 1774–5, 12mo.; and ‘The History of Lady Sophia Sternheim,' translated from the German. His son Joseph became a celebrated engraver.
Publisher: Printed and Sold by Shepard Kollock
City: Elizabethtown, New Jersey
Year: 1788
Printing Information: Other - see description
Binding Style: Hardcover
Pagination: 334 pages
Width: 4" Height: 6.75"
Book Details: This antique full-leather volume, with a gilt-lettered spine label is a scarce early American imprint of this landmark work of 18th-century German poetry, in a prose translation begun by Mary Collyer, and completed after her death by her husband, Joseph Collyer. "Der Messias" (“The Messiahâ€) is an epic poem published from 1748 to 1773 by German poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock.

The poem consists of 19,458 dactylic hexameters, as compared with the 12,310 of Homer's Odyssey. At Schulpforta, the classical school Klopstock attended 1739-1745, the plan for the poem was formulated. The project reflected the influence of Johann Jakob Bodmer's translation of John Milton's "Paradise Lost" which Klopstock had read at the school. After developing his plan, Klopstock wrote a prose version of the first three cantos. After going to Leipzig in 1747, he recast the prose into hexameters. In 1748, this verse for the first three cantos appeared anonymously in the Bremer Beiträge (“Bremen Contributions??). The next two cantos appeared in 1750, and the next five appeared in 1755. Ten more cantos appeared substantially later: five in 1768 and five in 1773.

In using hexameters for his verse, Klopstock had abandoned the traditional Alexandrines. This loosed a storm of criticism on his head from the school of Johann Christoph Gottsched, who ridiculed what he called Klopstock's “seraphic spirit of fanaticism,†his strictures on Gottsched's dogmatism, his effeminate and morbid tenderness, and his religious sentimentality. These criticisms were later confirmed by Lessing, although in a milder and more dignified spirit. On the other hand, the school of Bodmer applauded. It has been said that the work of no German poet before Richard Wagner aroused such controversy. Goethe's "Autobiography" tells us that his father banished the book from the house because of its blank verse.

The theme of the poem is the redemption of mankind, and the poem starts with Jesus's entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Klopstock's work shows he learned much from Milton. However, instead of strong contrasts, going from darkness to light, from misery to bliss, Klopstock attempts to portray a mental state of continuous, dazzling brilliancy. Instead of an alternation of clashes, there is contemplation. Notable descriptions are those of hell, the council of the devils, their punishment through transformation, the trips through the universe made by angels and devils, and the vision of the last judgment. (Information Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Condition / Notes: This antique volume shows external wear, with rubbing and staining to the covers. The spine displays cracking. The binding is detaching at the rear. The title page has small tears at the edgtes and a previous owner's name, with date of 1790, at the top edge. A gift inscription in pencil appears on the front pastedown. Notations in ink appear on the rear pastedown. The pages exhibit light foxing and faint tide markings. This volume unfortunately lacks the final 50 or so pages, ending at page 334 rather than 383.


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