Selected Prose Works of G E Lessing
Format: Paperback
ISBN13: 9781150704444
Paperback|9781150704444
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Overview
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1879 edition. Excerpt: ... LAOKOON OR ON THE LIMITS OF PAINTING AND POETEY. WITH COLLATERAL ELUCIDATIONS OF VARIOUS QUESTIONS IN THE HISTORY OB' ANCIENT ART. The greater part of Laokoon was written during Lessing's residence at Breslau, 1760-65. He completed and published it at Berlin in 1766 in the hope of furthering his candidature for the post of Royal Librarian, which however it failed to secure for him. This translation M based on that by Mr. E. C. Beasley, published in 1853. PREFACE TO LAOKOON. The first person who compared painting and poetry with one another was a man of refined feeling, who became aware of a similar effect produced upon himself by both arts. He felt that both represent what is absent as if it were present, and appearance as if it were reality; that both deceive, and that the deception of both is pleasing. A second observer sought to penetrate below the surface of this pleasure, and discovered that in both it flowed from the same source. Beauty, the idea of which we first deduce from bodily objects, possesses universal laws, applicable to more things than one; to actions and to thoughts as well as to forms. A third reflected upon the value and distribution of these universal laws, and noticed that some are more predominant in painting, others in poetry; that thus, in the latter case, poetry will help to explain and illustrate painting; in the former, painting will do the same for poetry. The first was the amateur, the second the philosopher, the third the critic. The two first could not easily make a wrong use of either their feelings or conclusions. On the other hand, the value of the critic's observations mainly depends upon the correctness of their application to the individual case; and since for one clear-sighted critic there have...
| ISBN-13 | 9781150704444 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 1150704446 |
| Weight | 1.10 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.76 In |
| List Price | $15.77 |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 340 pages |
| Publisher | |
| Published On | 2009-12-01 |
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