Laokoon, oder, Ueber die Grenzen der Mahleren und Poesie mit beylaeuffigen Erlaeuterungen [Laocoon, or, On the Limits of Painting and Poetry with Additional Explanations] (German)

Laokoon, oder, Ueber die Grenzen der Mahleren und Poesie mit beylaeuffigen Erlaeuterungen [Laocoon, or, On the Limits of Painting and Poetry with Additional Explanations] (German)

Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim

Berlin: Voss, 1766

HathiTrust

1766

1854-11-11: "Saturday. I read Heine's poems; wrote a few recollections of Weimar and translated Genealogical Tables of the Goethe family. Then we went to call on Fraulein von Solmar, who was exceedingly agreeable, and invited me to visit her when I pleased of an evening. Walked to the Wilhelmsplatz and Leipziger Platz, for the first time. In the evening went to see "Nathan der Weise". The Theatre very elegant and comfortable. Doring as Nathan excellent. The Patriarch immensely comic- "Es thut nichts, der Jude wird verbrannt", the essence of the dogmatic spirit. Both thrilled by the grandeur of the sentiments. I felt that it was a noble inspiration which dictated such writing. The scenery was excellent, particularly a street in Jerusalem and the garden in the last scene. The sky was grand on our way to the theatre - the stars bright on a sable field. I began Lessing's Laocoon in bed." Diary 1854-1861 34
1854-11-13: "13 Monday. Letter from Mr. Noel enclosing a letter for Humboldt. Read Laocoon. Translated Spinoza. Du Bois-Reymond called just as we came in from Dinner. He spoke very decidedly of the German civilization as inferior to the English. A handsome, young looking man. He spoke English very well, and accounted for it by telling us that he had an English wife. In the evening came Gruppe-a cordial, lively man. He gave us an interesting account ofhis work on the Cosmic systems of the Greeks." Diary 1854-1861 34
1854-11-19: "Finished Lessing's Laocoon - the most un-German of all German books that I have ever read. The style is strong clear and lively, the thoughts acute and pregnant. It is well adapted to rouse an interest both in the classics and in the study of art." Diary 1854-1861 34-35

Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, Laokoon, oder, Ueber die Grenzen der Mahleren und Poesie mit beylaeuffigen Erlaeuterungen [Laocoon, or, On the Limits of Painting and Poetry with Additional Explanations] (German), George Eliot's Reading, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/57374

https://georgeeliotarchive.org/files/original/7ffa07c4facc28d0e6f77366dd8339f8.pdf