Tag Archive: 0cross-cultural

German interest in folksongs began in the middle of the eighteenth century, stoked in no small part by the Europe-wide mania for Ossian.  Thomas Percy’s influential Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765) was also much admired, and the philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder, who had been sent a copy by Rudolf Erich Raspe (of Munchausen fame) […]

Many of the items in the Anglo-German Cultural Relations catalogue are rife with cross-cultural connections. One such item is the copy of John Frederick Lampe’s A plain and compendious Method of teaching Thorough Bass, after the most rational Manner … (London, J. Wilcox, 1737). This, the first (and only) edition was dedicated to Colonel John Blathwayt […]

Another book from the recently-released Anglo-German Cultural Relations catalogue: Albrecht von Haller’s Usong.  An Eastern Narrative …  (London: Printed for the Translator; and sold by F. Newbery … and J. Walter …  1772). This first edition in English was published only a year after the original had appeared in Germany, apparently at the instigation of Queen Charlotte.  ‘This […]

The late eighteenth century saw a rise in personal travel and tourism, making it only a matter of time before travel accounts became an amusing and sought-after genre of reading material. Item 40 from Anglo-German Cultural Relations is one such example, and was both lauded and entertaining: Karl Philipp Moritz‘s Reisen eines Deutschen in England […]

The story of Anglo-German cultural relations is inextricably linked with the British royal family, particularly in the Victorian era. This connection is perhaps most apparent in item of 204 of Anglo-German Cultural Relations (also listed as no. 16 in our New York book fair list): an inscribed copy of the first edition of German Hymns […]

Of the Werther-related items in Anglo-German Cultural Relations, item 37 stands out as particularly striking and visual: a group of three etchings with stipple by Bartolozzi after Bunbury and Ramberg, each illustrating a scene from the novel. Goethe’s influential novel first appeared in English, via a French translation, in 1779, and soon grabbed the attention […]