Henry von Ofterdingen: A Romance (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)

The translation that I read, though unidentified, appears to be identical to the one available online that was published in Cambridge, MA, in 1842, prepared from the 1802 publication of the work by Tieck and Schlegel. I'm sorry to report that this edition (my copy from "Simplicissimus Book Farm," printed on demand in San Bernardino in 2017) is loaded with typos. For example, the first sentence of the first chapter begins "The patents [sic] had already retired to rest ...," whereas the German original makes it clear that it was the "parents" ("Die Eltern") who had retired. There are innumerable such errors, e.g., "mew" for "new," "teemed" for "seemed," "beard" for "heard," etc. A "Life of the Author," apparently also by Tieck, is prepended to this edition; with a little detective work you can deduce that that introduction was written in the late 1810s. It too contains errors, e.g., twice referring to Novalis's fiancée Sophia as "Serbia." To what extent these errors are duplicated in the numerous other editions prepared from the 1842 translation, I'm not sure; I suspect all of them. The translation, in addition to being peppered with typos, is awkward and stilted--and especially Novalis's frequent lapses into verse, all of which are forced to rhyme in English to the detriment of the meaning. I understand that a newer English translation was published in 1964 by Palmer Hilty (and printed many times thereafter); I'd recommend looking into it instead if you cannot read the German original.

Henry von Ofterdingen was a legendary middle aged poet. Novalis, a poet and philosopher of Early German Romanticism, perpetuated this legend in a very lyric novel. The author tries to depict a world of perfect harmony due to the power of poetry and love. Difficult, anyway it worth the effort.

The story of Henry's growth and education as a poet. Examines the power of poetry to explain the mysteries of our world.

Masterpiece mostly unpublished. This edition is not bad.

Excellent

the one by Palmer Hilty first published by Ungar in 1964, which seems to be here: https://www.amazon.com/Henry-von-Ofterdingen-Novel-Novalis-ebook/dp/B00HAHV8R0Has a good introduction too.

Very difficult to follow .There should be explanatory notes.

A reference novel rather than a great read, grossly disserviced by the publisher's use of the cheapest paper and naf design, making it an embarassment to be seen with.