FIRST DANISH EDITION OF ROUSSEAU'S "ÉMILE"

ROUSSEAU, J.J.

Emil eller om Opdragelsen. Seks Deele. Oversat af Fransk (af Jo. Werfel) og udgiven med Tydsklands Opdragelsesrevisorers og en Deel Danske oplysende, bestemmende og rettende Anmærkninger.

Kjøbenhavn (Copenhagen), Sebastian Popp, 1796 - 99.

8vo. Bound in three uniform contemporary half calf bindings with gilt title- and tome-labels to spines. Spines with some wear, but overall nice and tight. Internally very nice and clean. Printed on good paper. Contemporary owner's inscription to front free end-papers. XXX, (2), 336 pp. + (8), 346 pp. + (2), 368 pp. + 372 pp. + XXVI, 352 pp. + 324 pp.

Rare first edition of the first Danish translation of Rousseau's monumental work (Emilius, or an Essay on Education), being one of the absolutely most important and influential works on education. Virtually no work has had as great an impact on paedagogics as this one.

Being one of the most influential thinkers of the 18th century, Rousseau is considered one of the indirect causes of the French Revolution. In Rousseau one certainly finds one of the most influential spokesmen for 18th century thought, and it is primarily the thoughts of him and Voltaire that are put into action with the Revolution. Not only in France can the effects of his philosophy and thoughts on upbringing and education be clearly seen; -his ideas were of decisive character to the generation of artists, writers, poets, philosophers etc. in the beginning to middle of the 19th century, which seminally affects Danish thought, as it is in this period that our most important and famous cultural personas are being influenced (e.g. H.C. Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard); thus this first Danish translation is of great importance and interest.
In Danish literature there is talk about the Rousseauan spirit, and it is in this spirit that the entire literary production of H.C. Andersen can be viewed, -directly or indirectly. Rousseau's three main thoughts in Émile - on the childlike, on the natural and on simple religious faith - fits like a glove on the main messages and morals of H.C. Andersen's works.

Søren Kierkegaard is known to have owned a copy of Rousseau's Émile in French as well as a copy of this first Danish translation (see "Auktionsprotokol over Søren Kierkegaards Bogsamling" no. 941-43). As opposed to H.C.A., though, the philosophy and educational program of Rousseau does not correspond with the Christianity of Kierkegaard, who, however, quotes and comments on Rousseau and his writings on several occasions in his diaries.
In Émile, Rousseau poses an entirely new approach to education and the upbringing of children. His thoughts were exceedingly controversial, the work was burnt by the executioner immediately after its first appearance and Rousseau had to flee the country due to a warrant for his arrest. There is no need to say that these new thoughts were also widely influential on Danish thought, and this especially after the appearance of the Danish translation (34-37 years after the French original). Not only Kierkegaard and H.C.A. were influenced by this great thinker, so were the likes of Ingemann, one of our greatest poets.

"The first and last of these (i.e. Héloise and Émile), with their sentimental expression of deism, gave much offence, and Rousseau, like Voltaire, was forced to flee to Prussia. Restless and locally unpopular, he fled again to England, where he had a great welcome. Hume, who had offered him asylum, looked after him patiently..." (PMM 207, Printing and the Mind of Man). Bibliotheca Danica IV:1004.

Order-nr.: 60926