COLLECTION OF EIGHT OF NIETZCHE'S EARLIEST PUBLICATIONS

(NIETZSCHE, FRIEDRICH).

1): Die hesiodische Theogonie ... + 2): Anacreontis Teii... + 3) Nitzsche, Rich., questionum Eudocianarum... + 4) Theognidis Elegiae... + 5) Bernays, Jacob, die Heraklitischen Briefe... + 6) Die harmonischen Fragmente des Aristoxenus... + 7) Rohde, Erwin, über Lucian's Schrift... + 8) Byk, S.A., der Hellenismus und der Platonismus... [In: Literarisches Centralblatt für Deutschland: 1): Nr. 18, 25. April 1868 + 2): Nr. 45, 31. Oktober 1868 + 3): No. 48, 21. November 1868 + 4): No. 6, 30. Januer 1869 + 5): No. 6, 30. Januer 1869 + 6): No. 6, 30. Januer 1869 + 7): No. 15, 3. April, 1869 + 8) Nr. 37, 3. September 1870].

Leipzig, Avenarius, 1869, 1869, 1870. 4to. All bound together in a very nice recent stiff marbled paper-binding in old style with a gilt leather title-label to front board. The brownish nuances of the binding-paper perfectly matches the old red edges of the contents. An exceedingly nice set with only minor scattered brownspotting, mostly to general title-pages. Bound with all three generel title-pages for "Literarisches Centralblatt für Deutschland. Herausgegeben von Friedrich Zarncke", 1868, 1869, 1870, as well as the contents-leaves for all three volumes, and all six numbers of "Literarisches Centralblatt" in their entirety. In all: X pp. + pp. (465) -496 + pp. (1209) - 1232 + pp. (1297) - 1328 + XI, (I) pp. + pp. (129) - 160) + pp. (409) - 440 + XI, (I) pp. + pp. (1001) - 1024. The Nietzsche-articles: (1868:) Nr. 15: pp. 481-82 + Nr. 45: p.1224 + Nr. 48: p. 1309 + (1869:) Nr. 6: pp. 144 + Nr. 6: p. 145 + Nr. 6: p. 146 + Nr. 15: pp. 426-27 + (1870:) Nr. 37: pp. (1101-2).

(N.B. the pp. that are not in Roman numerals recte = columns).

Exceedingly scarce collection of the first printings of eight of Nietzsche's earliest publications, including his second publication, which was only preceded by his "Zur Geschichte der Theognidischen Spruchsammlung" in Rheinisches Museum, from 1867. The present collection constitutes all that Nietzsche published in "Literarisches Centralblatt", being the entire collection of the Reviews. The first seven are signed "Fr. N." and the last is signed "F.N.".

Nietzsche began studying philology at the University of Bonn in the winter semester og 1864/65 and quickly became a prize student. His university studies were fairly quickly interrupted, though, as he spent a year in the Prussian Artillary, from October 1867. After about half a year, he was seriously injured and had to spend the last five months there as a reconvalescent. Nonetheless this year did not mean a brek in Nietzsche's studies, quite the contary. Already in April 1868, before his injury (in May), he published his first book review, namely that of Schoemann's work on "Die hesiodische Theogonie", which had just appeared. And after the injury, he naturally had even more time for studying at his disposal; "Nietzsche's protracted recovery from his military injuries allowed him considerable time to study and to take on other scholarly duties, one of which was to write book reviews for a teacher, Friedrich Zarncke, who edited the "Literarisches Centralblatt". Nietzsche had been assigned the entire field of Greek philosophy - excepting only Aristotle - and this provide him with the opportunity for eight brief appearances in print between 1868 and 1870." (Schaberg, The Nietzsche Canon, p. 10).

It is of great interest to see the young Nietzsche as the sober, upbuilding philological book reviewer, who minutely and fairly describes new books within his field. For instance he writes about Schoemann's book: "In dieser energischen und ausführlichen Polemik ruht vornehmlich der Werth dieses Buches: obschon wir auch an der reinlichen Darlegung der Schömann'schen Hypothese sowie an dem sorgfältig gearbeiteten wesentlich mythologischen Commentar unsere Freude haben...", even though it lacks a critical apparatus... Or about Nitzche's "Quaestionum Eudocianarum" he writes "Der Verf. der forliegenden Dissertation hat das Verdienst, auf einem abgelegenen Felde mehrere unverwerfliche Bausteine mitgeschickter Hand zusammengebracht zu haben, ohne dass es ihm gelungen wäre, durch eine nach allen Seiten hin Licht werfende Hypothese sein gewonnenes Material zu verwerthen." The most interesting of the riview is probably the seventh, that on the doctoral dissertation of Erwin Rohde, "über Lucian's Schrift...", which was published by Engelmann in Leipzig. Erwin Rohde was Nietzsche's best friend at the University of Leipzig. They were close friends for many years. It was probably due to the present positive review of Rohde's dissertation, that he (Rohde) later wrote his defense of Nietzsche's first book, "Geburt der Tragödie" - the only academic defense of the work that appeared. It was to Engelmann, who had published Rohde's dissertation, that Nietzsche first offered "Geburt der Tragödie" in 1871. Nietzsche ends his review of Rohde's work with the words "- In Summa: man trifft in der gegenwärtigen Gelehrten Welt die glückliche Vereinigung von gründlichen Wissen, dialektscher Energie und künstlerischem Geschmack nicht zu oft, um nicht der classischen Philologie zu dieser neuen Jüngerschaft ausdrücklich zu gratulieren."

Schaberg 1-8.

Order-nr.: 40370