Beschreibung:

SCHILLER, Johann Christoph Friedrich von (1759-1805). Autograph letter signed ('Schiller') to Christian Gottfried Krner, Weimar, 12 January 1789, 4 pages, 8vo on a bifolium (short tear along fold). [ Together with :] KRNER, Christian Gottfried (1756-1831). Autograph letter signed ('Krner') to Friedrich Schiller, Dresden, 16 January 1789, 3 pages, 4to . AN EXCHANGE FROM A FAMOUS CORRESPONDENCE: SCHILLER ASKS FOR SUGGESTIONS ON HIS POEM 'DIE KNSTLER'. Schiller has been recommending Krner's services to Wieland for the Journal Merkur , and discusses the modest fees ('Fr Uebersetzungen erhalte ich auch nicht mehr als einen Karolin, und im Grunde lt sich auch nicht mehr dafr fordern') and and the best way of writing articles - one can scarcely believe how most readers of journals shrink from an article of any length ('Du glaubst nicht, wie abschreckend es fr den grsten Theil der Journaller ist, einen etwas grndlichen Aufsatz vorzunehmen, der nicht vollendet ist'). He advises Krner to write to Wieland, warning however of the latter's irregularity as a correspondent ('Nur einen exacten Correspondenten kann ich Dir nicht in ihm versprechen'), and discusses the possibilities of a translation of Gibbon: Wieland thinks Gibbon has been translated, but Schiller is sure this is not so, and recommends that Krner select an untranslated portion. He ends with mention of a poem he is enclosing ('Die Knstler', not present), adding that he has struck out two entire pages, as the poem was becoming distended ('anschwoll'); the sense of the missing section is that art is the connecting link between the sensual and mental qualities of Man ('Da die Kunst zwischen der Sinnlichkeit und Geistigkeit des Menschen das Bindungsglied ausmache [...]'. Schiller earnestly asks Krner to give him a critique of the poem, which 'would inspire me to add the finishing touches which it needs, and my mind needs a spur to set it in motion' ('es wird mich dann zu der letzten Hand, die ich ihm noch zu geben habe, begeistern und berhaupt darf ich jetzt zu meiner inneren Existenz einer solchen Friction von auen sehr') Krner responds with a detailed and enthusiastic critique of the poem, urging Schiller to be more positive about it - 'I must entreat you on my knees not to hurry yourself with this poem ... it could be your masterpiece' ('als Gedicht Kann es Dein Meisterstck werden'). He suggests that Schiller's worries about its length could be alleviated by transposing verses, 'so as to lead the reader from the known to the unknown'. He promises to give the poem further thought, and thanks him for his suggestions propos of Wieland. Schiller incorporated several of Krner's recommendations into his later drafts of 'Die Knstler' - not least those as to its length (the final version runs to almost 500 lines). The early draft discussed here has apparently not survived. Krner befriended Schiller in 1785, at his lowest ebb, inviting him to stay with him in Leipzig. Schiller moved with the Krners to Dresden, where Krner had a minor administrative post, and played a prominent part in literary and artistic circles; he continued to live with them for the next two years. After Schiller's move to Weimar in 1787, his successful historical work gained him in the year of the present exchange the professorship of history at Jena. The two remained faithful friends and maintained a voluminous corresondence, in which Schiller frequently submitted his work to Krner's criticism. Krner edited Schiller's works and wrote the first biography. On Schiller's death he asked that his letters should be returned to him, enabling his adopted son, Ulrich von Steinbeck, to publish the correspondence ( Schillers Briefwechsel mit Krner , 1847). (2)