Dear sylk,
This quote derives from a conversation Goethe had with a visitor, the
Swiss scientist Frédéric Soret (1795-1865) from Genève, on February
17, 1832 in Goethe's residence in Weimar.
Soret recorded his conversations with Goethe in French; after his
death in 1865, these chronicles have been found in Soret's bequest. It
has been "Frédéric Soret: Goethes Unterhaltungen mit Friedrich Soret"
("Goethe's conversations with Friedrich Soret), published by C.A.H.
Burkhardt, Weimar. Together with his diaries concerning his time with
Goethe and the letters he exchanged with the German writer, this
material has later been assembled, translated to German and commented
by Heinrich Hubert Houben in 1929 in the book "Frédéric Soret: Zehn
Jahre bei Goethe. Erinnerungen an Weimars klassische Zeit" ("Ten years
with Goethe. Memories of Weimars classical time"), poblished by
The original quotation as recorded by Soret was in French and read the
following:
"Que suis-je moi-même ? Qu'ai-je fait ? J'ai recueilli, utilisé tout
ce que j'ai entendu, observé. Mes oeuvres sont nourries par des
milliers d'individus divers, des ignorants et des sages, des gens
d'esprit et des sots. L'enfance, l'âge mûr, la vieillesse, tous sont
venus m'offrir leurs pensées, leurs facultés, leur manière d'être ;
j'ai recueilli souvent la moisson que d'autres avaient semée. Mon
oeuvre est celle d'un être collectif et elle porte le nom de Goethe."
In the German translation, the same quote is:
"Was bin ich selbst? Und was habe ich getan? Ich habe all das
gesammelt, nutzbar gemacht, was ich vernommen und beobachtet habe.
Meine Werke sind genährt durch Tausende verschiedene Einzelwesen, von
Dummköpfen und von Weisen, von geistreichen Menschen und von Narren.
Die Kindheit, die Reifezeit und das Alter, sie alle haben mir ihre
Gedanken, ihre Fähigkeiten, ihre Seinsweise angeboten. Ich habe oft
die Ernte eingebracht, für die andere gesät hatten. Mein Werk ist das
eines Kollektivwesens, und es trägt den Namen Goethe."
Neither the 1905 "Goethes Unterhaltungen mit Friedrich Soret" nor
"Zehn Jahre bei Goethe" are, alas, currently in print. The 1929
edition of Houben's work is antiquarian, but it is not impossible to
find, as a quick search at abebook.com has revealed. However, I was
not able to locate a copy of the also out-of-print 1991 edition
(publisher: Olms Verlag, Hildesheim).
Sources:
Académie de Nice: Faust, dernier génie universel?, by Professor
Fabrice Malkani, Université Lumière, Lyon. (in Google Cache)
://www.google.de/search?q=cache:WYfvPdDBwosC:www.ac-nice.fr/allemand/docs/Faustderniergenieuniversel.doc+goethe+soret+%22que+suis+je%22&hl=de&ie=UTF-8
BR-Alpha: Alpha-Forum extra - Goethe, der Naturforscher. By
Bayerischer Rundfunk broadcasting, 1999
http://www.br-online.de/alpha/forum/vor9908/19990827_i.html
Goethe-Institut - Goethejahr: Goethe - ein letztes Universalgenie? By
the Goethe-Institut, 1999
http://www.goethe.de/z/10/goethe99/29.htm
Goethe-Gymnasium Ibbenbüren: Goethes Naturauffassung, by Klaus M.
MeyerAbich, 1999
http://www.ibb-voba.de/goethe/forum/meyer_abich.htm
Biblint.de: Bibliographie zu Johann Wolfgang Goethe: Ausgaben,
Materialien, Bibliographien, by Michael Mandelartz, 2001
http://www.biblint.de/goethe_bibliographie.html
Abebooks.com - used, secondhand, rare, out-of-print
http://www.abebooks.com/
Amazon.de: Detailseite: Zehn Jahre bei Goethe.
http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/3487094428/qid=1029190672/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_16_1/028-2964308-5974129
Search terms used:
"que suis je" goethe:
://www.google.de/search?q=%22que+suis+je%22+goethe&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=de&meta=
"Frédéric Soret" goethe 1832:
://www.google.de/search?q=%22Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric+Soret%22+goethe+1832&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&start=10&sa=N
soret goethe weimar 1832:
://www.google.de/search?q=soret+goethe+weimar+1832&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&start=20&sa=N
Hope this is what you were looking for!
Regards,
Scriptor |
Clarification of Answer by
scriptor-ga
on
13 Aug 2002 13:08 PDT
Dear sylk,
I was not able to browse one of these books myself so far. But I will
keep on trying. In the meantime, would it help you if I told you that
the book is available in the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington
Square South, New York, NY 10012, Phone (212) 998-2505?
Here is the online catalog entry for "Zehn Jahre bei Goethe", 1929
edition, published by F.A. Brockhaus, Leipzig:
Author: Soret, Frédéric Jacob, 1795-1865.
Title: Zehn jahre bei Goethe; Erinnerungen an Weimars klassische Zeit,
1822-1832.
Publisher: Leipzig, F. A. Brockhaus, 1929.
Description: 799 p. front., plates, ports., facsims. (1 fold.) 21 cm.
Subjects: Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832--Biography--Old age.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832--Friends and associates.
Weimar--Intellectual life.
Other Authors: Houben, H. H. (Heinrich Hubert), 1875-1935
HOLDINGS
Location: NYU Bobst
Call number: PT2069 .S6
Detailed holdings-
Status: Available
New York Libraries Online Catalog Search:
http://www.bobcat.nyu.edu/
I really hope this provides some help, should I not be able to find a
physical copy of the book myself.
Best regards,
Scriptor
|