The Saint Paul globe., 1904-01-31
Goethe's Mysterious Casket
The Riddle of a Famous Novel.
BY HUBERT M. SKINNER.

TO the average American reader, one
Of the most famous books OF the
greatest of German authors would
seem like product of hospital for
the insane. This is the novel generally
known as Wilhelm Meister's Travels"
and follows the Apprenticeship OF
the same hero. The word "travels," )"
however, poorly expresses the itineran-
cy of a German tradesman after the
completion of his work as an appren-
tice and before he settles down to a
permanent residence. We have, in fact,
no good equivalent for the German
word wanderjahre, which appears in
the title.
There Is no other book to be COM
pared with it in singularity. The un-
aided reader knows not what to make
of It,
Yet the educator. the sociologist and
the scientist feel that they must read
1t, in company with the student of lit
erature. to whom, of course, it is a ne
cessity.
The disconnectedness, the hidden
meaning, the foreign character, the
peculiarities of the life which it por-
trays. and the oddities of style cause
1t to be deemed study too dense for
the average reader in this country,
though we have excellent translations
of it. and these are easily accessible to
all.
With the ever increasing interest in
the studies of education and sociology
1t is likely that the book will have. in
time, greater vogue in America than
at present, though 1T can never become
popular like a novel of Dickens or of
victor Hugo. Some years ago, a por-
ton of the book was studied by the
teachers of various states in the Teach
erS' Reading Circle courses but this
was only a small part of the whole.
There is an explanation of the char
acter of the volume, which is found in
the circumstances OF its origin Young
Schiller, 1T Is said, called upon the aged
Goethe, and was astanished at the lack
of system Of the famous poet and phil
losopher. The desks and drawers of
Goethe were burdened with manu-
criptss of essays, fragmentary transla-
tions, uncompleted chapters of a story,
ETC., etc. Schiller insisted that the
manuscripts should be published at
once. They were not ready, however,
and it seemed likely that they would
never be. Schiller suggested, as a way
out, that they should be connected in
some sort of way, and published to-
gether as single story.
The continuation of the narrative of
Wilhelm Meister's life might be finish
ed briefly, and the other papers could
be inserted here and there as a "fiil-
ing" This would insure the publication
OF the valuable essays and other pa
pers within Goethe's lifetime, and
would prevent their being scattered
through unattractive volumes Of mis-
cellanies."
Goethe acted upon the suggestion
and the book was made up. Such a
book! Nothing but the great genius
of its author saved II from failure. Yet
1T Is a marvelously profitable book II
one will study 1t well. The characters
are always called by their Christian
names. The husband and father is al
ways Wilhelm" and never Mr.. Meis-
ter. His wife is always "Natalia-"
Their friend Is always "Jarno" or
"Montan." and the surname is not Civ
en-. No localities are named, and there
seems to be a lack-of reality or tangi-
bility throughout. While there are
fine specimens Of letter writing, the
letters given are wholly without date
or place Of writing, and are also with
out address OF signature. The transla-
tions and other stories which are who'll
ly irrelevant break off the slender