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Excellent edition of an excellent work.
Writing in the 1790s, Schiller united the rigorous epistemology of Kant and Fichte with Plato's dynamic account of the development of the soul to produce one of the most beautiful works of philosophy in the European tradition.The Letters on Aesthetic Education offer an interpretation of the development of the individual and the parallel development of Western civilization.These interpretations focus on the conditions that allow for mental health in a human individual and society, and especially demonstrate (as the title indicates) the crucial role of artistic experience in healthy human development.This is a great work, and a great introduction to the other German philosophers of the 19th Century (Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, et al).This edition is very good: the translation is good, and it has a facing German text.Highly recommended. ... Read more

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Wallenstein is a Masterpiece
The Wallenstein trilogy is a fascinating work, constructed in an unusual and innovative manner, and marked by unusually powerful language.Wallenstein is a profoundly ambiguous figure.Was he a proto-German nationalist?A seeker of peace and religous moderation?A determined schemer aiming to develop his own Empire?Some combination of all of these?Schiller, who taught history and was the author of a history of the Thirty Years War, seems to have had the same difficulties in defining Wallenstein as everyone else.To approach Wallenstein, Schiller uses an indirect and very creative method.While Wallenstein is the central figure of the trilogy, he is hardly on stage in the first 2 plays, Wallenstein's Camp and The Piccolomini, and even in the last play, Wallenstein's Death, much of the action concerns other characters.Schiller shows Wallenstein by demonstrating his effect on other characters.In the short initial play, Wallenstein's Camp, Schiller presents the common soldiers' attitudes towards Wallenstein.In The Piccolomini, Schiller shows Wallenstein's attributes by dealing with different members of Wallenstein's court, particularly the Piccolomini, father and son officers who struggle with their divided loyalty to Wallenstein and the Emperor.In a brilliant stroke, Schiller makes each of these different characters exemplify a different aspect of Wallenstein's character.In essence, Schiller makes Wallenstein a kind of universal figure exhibiting a huge array of human traits.In the final play, Wallenstein's death, Wallenstein's inability to choose among or reconcile these different aspects leads to a paralysis of decision and his death.This is all presented with superb characterization and powerful language, including Shakespearean-like set piece speechs of considerable poetic power, even in translation. ... Read more

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This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1813 edition by F. W. Forstmann, Aachen. ... Read more

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Don Carlos and Mary Stuart, two of German literature's greatest dramas, deal with the timeless issues of power, freedom, and justice.Dating from 1787 and 1800 respectively, one play was written before the French Revolution, the other in its aftermath. Both dramatize periods of crisis in sixteenth-century Europe, and in doing so reflect Schiller's passionate engagement with the great themes of his own age - justice, power, freedom of conscience, legitimacy of government.A youthful work, Don Carlos shows the victory of the forces of reaction over the representatives of a new age. Mary Stuart shows the struggle of the Scottish queen in her last days of her life, not only for her freedom, but also for peace with her conscience, and that of her English rival, Elizabeth I, with the challenge of ruling justly. A vivid imaginative experience when read, these plays, with their starkly contrasting characters and thrilling confrontations, also demonstrate Schiller's brilliant stagecraft.These new translations into blank verse are accurate, elegant, and playable. The introduction, notes, and chronology set the plays in their cultural and intellectual background, while a family tree explains the historical relationship bewteen Don Carlos and Mary Stuart. ... Read more

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The work of a genius
It's hard to find words which do justice to these wonderful plays. Schiller is a genius, a german Shakespeare. The plays are full of fascinating characters, deep emotions and humanist ideals. Don't be surprised if you find youself sympathising with and understanding the enemys of the heroes. In Philipp II and Elizabeth I the inner torments of rulers surounded by false friends (Leichester, Alba), idealists(Posa, the spirit of liberty and friendship) and caught in there own fears, hopes and loves is poignantly illustrated. All in wonderfull words - read it in german if you possibly can! If you can't, DON'T miss it in english!!!You may find yourself identifying the situations in your life with those of the characters.These are plays to read over and over - always something new and worthwhile to discover. ... Read more

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Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and dramatist. Schiller wrote many philosophical papers on ethics and aesthetics. He developed the concept of the Schöne Seele (beautiful soul), a human being whose emotions have been educated by his reason, so that Pflicht und Neigung (duty and inclination) are no longer in conflict with one another; thus "beauty," for Schiller, is not merely a sensual experience, but a moral one as well: the Good is the Beautiful. His philosophical work was also particularly concerned with the question of human freedom, a preoccupation which also guided his historical researches. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. Critics have noted his innovative use of dramatic structure and his creation of new forms, such as the melodrama and the bourgeois tragedy. Amongst his famous works are Love and Intrigue (1784), Don Carlos (1787), The Minister (1796), The Death of Wallenstein (1799), The Piccolomini (1800) and Mary Stuart (1800). ... Read more

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New translations of writings by Friedrich Schiller, the great German classical poet and friend of the American Revolution. ... Read more

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This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1896 edition by Chapman and Hall, Limited, London. ... Read more

Book Description
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and dramatist. Schiller wrote many philosophical papers on ethics and aesthetics. He developed the concept of the Schöne Seele (beautiful soul), a human being whose emotions have been educated by his reason, so that Pflicht und Neigung (duty and inclination) are no longer in conflict with one another; thus "beauty," for Schiller, is not merely a sensual experience, but a moral one as well: the Good is the Beautiful. His philosophical work was also particularly concerned with the question of human freedom, a preoccupation which also guided his historical researches. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. Critics have noted his innovative use of dramatic structure and his creation of new forms, such as the melodrama and the bourgeois tragedy. Amongst his famous works are Love and Intrigue (1784), Don Carlos (1787), The Minister (1796), The Death of Wallenstein (1799), The Piccolomini (1800) and Mary Stuart (1800).Download Description
MARY. O spare me, sir! No further. Spread no more Life's verdant carpet out before my eyes, Remember I am wretched, and a prisoner. ... Read more

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Beware!
The translation of Mary Stuart that you see when you "Look Inside" is not the same one that is being sold on this page!!!!

A Masterpiece
A brilliant psychological drama.Schiller begins with presenting Mary as the epitome of passion and misguided sincerity, with Elizabeth as the epitome of rational calculation and statecraft.With superb plotting, he stages their confrontation to emphasize their common features and with elements of role reversal.The confrontation essentially purifies their original characters, heightening the contrast between passion and calculation.I don't read German but this translation contains a great deal of eloquent language and an appropriately Shakerspearean flavor.

The "Mary, Queen Of Scots" Play Used In "Anne Of Avonlea"
This is the play that was used in the 1987 (?) movie, "Anne of Avonlea." It's really neat! ... Read more

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In this important study, Lesley Sharpe assesses Schiller's development as a dramatist, poet and thinker, and provides detailed discussions of all his major works, including his essays on aesthetics. His works are viewed against the social, political and literary background of the late eighteenth century. Spanning a period from the late 1770s to 1805 they explore the insistent themes of the age - the loss of tradition and authority, the individual's claim to self-expression and the search for stability. While the early works focus on the turbulent individual, Schiller later turns to the great public concerns of the French Revolutionary era - legitimacy and power, the exercise of freedom and the relationship between morality and politics. The aesthetic essays explore the vital role of art in integrating the aesthetic, moral and political realms. ... Read more

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Originally published in 1825.Author: Thomas Carlyle Language: English Keywords: Literature Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Pressare republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

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The Ghost-Seer
"The Ghost-Seer" is a novel written by Friedrich Schiller, the German playwright, poet and philosopher. The story was published in the 1780's, and Schiller eventually left it unfinished. While this is no doubt annoying, the work nevertheless has a certain interest.

The main character is a German Prince who is manipulated by unknown forces during a visit to Venice. At first, the Prince is moral, pious and intellectually curious, but unfortunately his religious convictions are of a simplistic Pietist kind. He is also very superstitious and easily lead. A group of conspirators, led by a mysterious Armenian, takes advantage of this. First, they stage a Spiritualist seance during which the spirit of the Prince's best friend is conjured up. Next, they reveal that the seance was just a hoax. By this double bluff, the conspirators make the Prince loose his religious faith, and turn him into an out-and-out sceptic.

As a sceptic, the Prince becomes immoral, lustful and completely uninterested in serious philosophy. He begins to advocate what's essentially an early version of Nietzscheanism: life is meaningless, and the only thing that matters is brute power. How or why power is won, is irrelevant. Eventually, the Prince realizes that his new "philosophy" only brings him personal unhappiness. How can anyone be happy, if life is meaningless?

Unfortunately, the Prince doesn't want to end his immoral lifestyle. He wants "meaning" only for the sake ofhis own personal consolation. At this point, the conspirators strike again, and eventually converts the Prince to a false religion: Catholicism. The conversion is facilitated by stage-managing an unhappy love affair with a devout Catholic woman. In other words, the Prince embraces Catholicism for reasons of lust, rather than reasons of faith or intellectual conviction.

During his stay in Venice, the Prince goes deeply into debt, to finance his new, libertine lifestyle. At the end of the story, he begins to contemplate a coup in his German principality, and perhaps an assasination of the legitimate heir to the throne, simply to get his hands on the family fortune. The story ends with the Prince attending a mass celebrated by the Armenian, who turns out to be a Catholic priest.

What strikes modern readers as most odd with the story is that Schiller sees scepticism, libertinism and Catholicism as part of the same problem, even the same conspiracy. Perhaps this is how German Protestants and Deists saw Catholicism during the Enlightenment? The story becomes more comprehensible to modern readers if Catholicism is seen as a symbol of false religion. After all, somebody might argue that New Age and interest in the occult is simply the flip-side of Western libertine, libertarian materialism. New Age promises the believer quick fixes, and some versions of it are notoriously commercialized. And isn't worship of raw power typical both of certain "atheist" philosophers (Nietzsche) and some "New Religious Movements" (Satanism)? When the Prince slips from immoral "atheism" to immoral "religion", he only thinks of his own individual well-being, his own quick fix.

At the same time, Schiller obviously didn't sympathize with good ol'religion either. Schiller could perhaps be described as a Deist, and one of the reasons why the Prince falls for the machinations of the Armenian, is that his own religion is simple-minded and uncouth. He also nourishes a superstitious belief in the supernatural, including communication with the spirits of the dead. Although there is a certain sympathy in Schiller's description of the Prince's old faith, it's nevertheless obvious that it's regarded as dangerously out-moded, and incapable of withstanding the allurements of a purely negative scepticism. Schiller's alternative seems to have been a spiritual form of the Enlightenment, as described in his "Aesthetic Letters".

Schiller lived during a time when the old religions were increasingly being challenged by materialism and scepticism, and he seems to have resented both camps. This, I take, is the main point of "The Ghost-Seer".

PS. For some unfathomable reason (another double bluff, perhaps?), this edition of "The Ghost-Seer" carries a preface by one Martin Jarvis, who treats this philosophical masterpiece as if it was a literal story about...conjuring tricks, a kind of "how to" manual for the aspiring stage illusionist. My God, whatever gave him *that* idea???
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An interpretation of Schiller and his works as the expression of an interesting individuality and an interesting epochDownload Description
When Schiller arrived in Mannheim, late in July, 1783, Dalberg was in Holland. There was nothing going on at the theater, and the sweltering town, deserted by such as could get away, was suffering from an epidemic of malarial fever. But the faithful Streicher was there and friend Meyer, the manager, and Schwan, the publisher, whose vivacious daughter, Margarete, gradually kindled in the heart of the new-comer another faint blue flame which he ultimately mistook for love. His first concern was to write to Frau von Wolzogen, who had loaned him money for his journey, a detailed report of his finances. ... Read more

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"If thou seekest to find immensity here, thou\'rt mistaken; For my greatness is meant greater to make thee thyself!" ... Read more

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When the mechanical artist places his hand on the formless block, to give it a form according to his intention, he has not any scruples in doing violence to it. For the nature on which he works does not deserve any respect in itself, and he does not value the whole for its parts, but the parts on account of the whole.Download Description
When the mechanical artist places his hand on the formless block, to give it a form according to his intention, he has not any scruples in doing violence to it. For the nature on which he works does not deserve any respect in itself, and he does not value the whole for its parts, but the parts on account of the whole. ... Read more