Hölderlin's Madness: Chronicle of a Dwelling Life, 1806–1843 by Giorgio Agamben and Alta L. Price

Author:Giorgio Agamben and Alta L. Price
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Seagull Books
Published: 2023-02-20T10:25:23+00:00

1822

17 January. Gok asks Cotta to offer ‘a somewhat more adequate fee’ for the publication of the poems.

27 January. Following a positive response from Cotta, Gok proposes a fee of three ducats per page, which Cotta accepts.

30 January. Cotta tells Gok a contract is on its way, although it doesn’t arrive for another three months. Just days earlier, Uhland had written to Kerner to confirm he would serve as editor: ‘I’d be thrilled to see an edition of Hölderlin’s poems completed. And, as I’ve already told Gok, I’d be happy to help. I recently reread “The Archipelago”—what a magnificent poem!’

18 March. Gok writes to Kerner to say he has forwarded the manuscript of poems to Uhland, who ‘expressed his sincere joy at this collection, which will help bring more attention to Hölderlin’s poetic spirit than all the previous, rather scattered publications combined’. Gok confirms that Uhland will compare the manuscript versions with the printed versions and make all necessary corrections, and that he will carry out

this onerous task in collaboration with Professor Schwab. Uhland concurs with you that, out of respect for the poor poet, any hint of extraneous intervention should be avoided; these poems should simply be published under Hölderlin’s name, and an announcement in the morning paper can inform the public of the new release . . . According to Uhland, dedicating this collection to a member of the House of Hesse-Homburg, which I had proposed to Dienst, is unnecessary; it will suffice that I send a deluxe copy to Her Highness in Hölderlin’s name, without a printed dedication.

18 April. Karl Ziller writes to Gok from Reutlingen to say he has received a Hölderlin poem from Frau Mäken, which she ‘considers a worthy counterpart to Schiller’s “The Gods of Greece”’. He transcribes part of the extraordinary poem ‘Griechenland’, which begins:

O ihr Stimmen des Geschicks, ihr Wege des Wanderers !

Oh ye voices of fate, ye paths of the traveller!

Two months later, on 18 June, Ziller follows up with a manuscript fragment of a lost poem, ‘Vomers Landgut’, in which he notes ‘tones of both idyllic poetry and a successful imitation of Greek epics, uniquely reworked by a highly poetic impetus’.

14 May. Cotta sends Gok the contract for the proposed edition of Hölderlin’s works. For ‘the first edition of the complete poems, which shall be published as soon as the manuscript has been completed and edited by Kerner and Schwab’, the agreement stipulates a fee of 3 ducats per printed page, plus an additional bonus of 3 ducats if 500 copies are sold within four years.

Hölderlin writes to his mother:

My esteemed Mother,

I am writing to you and shall aim, insofar as I am able, to say nothing that might displease you. Your welfare and the state of your soul are of the utmost importance to me. If you can be satisfied with that, you will be doing me a favour. You already know how much I pray, and I can only hope I do not annoy you. I remain

your devoted son

Hölderlin

3 July.

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