A new translation of the novel that made Goethe's name, the tragic account of a passionate infatuation, featuring the archetypal Romantic hero, that created a sensation on first publication.
Translated with lyric precision and sensitivity by the award-winning author and poet, David Constantine.
Critical introduction discusses the autobiographical background, the novel's epistolary form and structure, and the novel's reception and afterlife.
Explanatory notes gloss contemporary allusions, literary references, and the autobiographical parallels.
