The Complete Correspondence of Friedrich Hölderlin

The first English translation of Hölderlin’s complete correspondence, with a full introduction and notes.Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) is widely acknowledged to be one of the most significant European poets and thinkers. His poems fascinate and compel; his role in the development of German Idealism is well-known; and his writings continue to shape philosophical reflections on subjectivity and the place of poetry in the world. Hölderlin’s correspondence is indispensable for anyone wanting to come to terms with his work, yet until now only selections have been available in English. This new and complete edition, which also includes all the surviving letters to Hölderlin, ranges from early letters written while he was still at school, via letters responding to the French Revolution and its consequences in Germany, relaying to Hegel his arguments with Fichte’s lectures, or setting out his poetic thinking, to the final letters written in his madness to his mother. The chief source of what we know of Hölderlin’s biography, this correspondence vitally illuminates his poetry and thought at every point.