University of Virginia Library

“In perusing this delightful work, we gather many new ideas upon the
writings of the great men of other times.”

“This is a beautiful volume, which literary men must always look over
with interest.”

“A most delightful work, that will instruct as well as amuse.”

“This volume, as soon as known, must be eagerly sought for by every one
for its very excellence; the translator does not exaggerate in calling this the
richest epistolary treasure that literature contains.”

“Those who seek into the true philosophy of great minds will find ample
compensation in the perusal of these letters, remarkable alike for the breadth
and variety of thought they involve, as well as the vastness of subjects, often
handled by these great men with the familiarity of boys whipping a top or
flying a kite.
“These letters are full of heart and soul—such letters as might be expected
to pass between two affectionate friends. They are full of the highest order
of genius—genius which has rarely been equalled in modern times. They are
full of the German mind—are marked by those striking peculiarities of thought
which distinguish the Germans from every other nation on earth.”

“Epistolary literature contains no richer treasure. To minds like theirs,
every department of science, literature, religion, and philosophy, possessed an
engrossing interest; and in their cordial and confidential effusions, all these
topics are discussed and illustrated with unsurpassed profundity of thought
and comprehensiveness of knowledge.
“The translator has executed his task as one who performs a labor that he
loves.”

“The work is one that none can read without an expansion of thought, and
without feeling that here is most unequivocally rebutted the scandal that
asserts that men of literature are deficient in hearty appreciation of the talents
and productions of each other.”

“Every one who knows any thing of the history of modern literature, knows
that Schiller and Goethe are among the brightest names by which it is emblazoned.
And in this volume we are permitted to catch a glance at the
friendly and delightful intercourse which they held with each other, during
the period in which each shone with the brightest lustre. The letters are
characterized by all the ease of the most unsuspecting confidence, and by a
grace and fascination which must entrance every admirer of genius. They are
perfectly unstudied efforts, and show us how gracefully great minds can occasionally
come down to little things. There is not a page, or scarcely a paragraph,
in which we do not discover the breathings of superlative genius.”