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Novalis (1) (1772–1801)

Author of Henry von Ofterdingen

For other authors named Novalis, see the disambiguation page.

221+ Works 2,023 Members 31 Reviews 11 Favorited

About the Author

Novalis, one of the early poets of German romanticism, provided the movement with its best known symbol, the "blue flower," from his fragmentary novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen (1802). The blue flower became the symbol for the deep-rooted romantic yearning, the search that would never end. Novalis show more himself was a Saxon nobleman and a government official who was fated to die young from tuberculosis. His most famous work, Hymns to the Night, was written in memory of his fiance, Sophie von Kuhn, who died in 1797 at the age of 15. His Hymns eloquently express his grief and are a unique mixture of religious, mystical feeling and personal sadness. The Hymns were composed in 1800 and the death he celebrated struck him a year later. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Novalis vers 1799 par Franz Gareis
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Series

Works by Novalis

Henry von Ofterdingen (1802) 501 copies
Hymns to the Night (English and German Edition) (1958) — Author — 298 copies
The Novices of Sais (1802) — Author — 138 copies
Hymns to the Night / Spiritual Songs (1943) — Author — 93 copies
Frammenti (1795) 55 copies
Die Christenheit oder Europa (1799) — Author — 27 copies
Fichte Studies (2003) 27 copies
Werke (1969) — Author — 20 copies
Gesammelte Werke (2008) — Author — 16 copies
Werke und Briefe (1953) 13 copies
Werke in einem Band (1984) — Author — 13 copies
Kristenheten eller Europa ; Hymner till natten (1935) — Author — 13 copies
Květinový prach (1798) 10 copies
Dichtungen (1920) 10 copies
De genius van de zang (2006) 10 copies
Novalis: Werke in einem Band (1981) — Author — 8 copies
Oeuvres complètes (1975) 8 copies
ENCYCLOPEDIE (1967) 8 copies
Novalis (1956) 7 copies
Opera filosofica (1993) 6 copies
Dichtungen und Fragmente (1989) 6 copies
Escritos escogidos (1998) 6 copies
Aphorismen (1992) 5 copies
Werke in einem Band (1995) — Author — 5 copies
Los románticos alemanes — Contributor — 4 copies
Gedichte und Prosa (2001) 4 copies
Werke (2001) — Author — 4 copies
Modrá květina (1999) 4 copies
Die Gedichte 3 copies
Œuvres complètes, vol. 2 (1975) — Author — 3 copies
Gérmenes o fragmentos (2006) 3 copies
Blüthenstaub (2016) 2 copies
Poemas tardíos (2011) 2 copies
Universal Jottings (2020) 2 copies
Fabeln (Fables). (1979) 2 copies
Klingsohr's Fairy Tale (1974) — Author — 2 copies
Dichtungen und Prosa (1975) 2 copies
Novalis-breviarium (1993) 2 copies
Breviarium (2022) 1 copy
Novalis Werke : in einem Band — Author — 1 copy
Hymnen 1 copy
Poesie, Reel Absolu (2015) 1 copy
Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 2 — Author — 1 copy
Fragments/Fragmente (1992) 1 copy
Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 1 — Author — 1 copy
Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 4 — Author — 1 copy
Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 3 — Author — 1 copy
Ainsi parlait Novalis (2016) 1 copy
Spiritual Saturnalia (1971) 1 copy
Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 5 (1945) — Author — 1 copy
Novalis Schriften — Author — 1 copy
Scritti filosofici (2019) 1 copy
Polline (2019) 1 copy
Two Tales (1955) 1 copy
Bajka o Erosu i Basni (2002) 1 copy

Associated Works

Deutsche Gedichte (1956) — Contributor, some editions — 135 copies
Romantiques allemands, tome 1 (1963) — Author, some editions — 20 copies
Fragmentos para una teoría romántica del arte (1987) — Contributor — 13 copies
Athenaeum. Eine Zeitschrift 1798-1800. [Zeitschrift] (1969) — Contributor — 7 copies
Nachtmeerfahrten: Die dunkle Seite der Romantik (2013) — Contributor — 7 copies
Der Zauberbrunnen : die Lieder der deutschen Romantik (1913) — Contributor — 4 copies
Hyacinth und Rosenblut: Marchen der deutschen Romantik (1986) — Contributor — 3 copies
Vorbereitung (1937) — Contributor — 3 copies
Kunstanschauung der Frühromantik — Contributor — 2 copies
Friedrich Schlegel und Novalis (1957) — Contributor — 1 copy
Novalis — Author, some editions — 1 copy
Prolog zu Novalis (1990) — Featured Artist — 1 copy
Die Romantik in Deutschland — Featured Artist — 1 copy
Novalis - Das Werk und seine Editoren (2001) — Contributor — 1 copy
Simbolul florii albastre la Novalis şi Eminescu — Associated Name — 1 copy
Am Borne deutscher Dichtung (1927) — Contributor — 1 copy

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Reviews

 
Flagged
luvucenanzo06 | 1 other review | Sep 8, 2023 |
 
Flagged
luvucenanzo06 | 1 other review | Sep 7, 2023 |
Perhaps the classic of German Romanticism. Novalis himself believed the Enlightenment to be a catastrophe and championed a return to a Church-centered world to restore a world whose cultural, social, and intellectual unity had been destroyed by the Enlightenment (and the Reformation). Most of this relatively short book is a coming of age story that, ultimately, bored me. I fear that says as much about me as about the book, which has apparently influenced everyone from C.S. Lewis to Hermann Hesse to George MacDonald and Jorge Luis Borges.
It opens with our hero having a very detailed dream which includes the face of his beloved (to come) in the center of a blue flower (the quest for the flower or the flower itself becomes an indelible, common symbol of Romanticism generally; perhaps you’ve heard of Penelope Fitzgerald’s book…it’s about Novalis himself.) Young Heinrich goes to Augsburg to meet his grandfather and is entertained during the journey with tales and stories of varying quality and interest. Once there he meets Klingsohr (based on a historic figure from Parzival who has appeared over and over again in everything from Richard Wagner to Hermann Hesse), with whom he has “deep” conversations about the meaning of poetry. The first part closes with a chapter that has the densest, strangest, most incredibly symbol-laden “fairy tale” that it would probably take a lifetime (or more) to unpack.
Ultimately, just too…poetic, too self-indulgent, too swoony, too idealized to suit my taste (or temperament). But I can also see how it has been enormously influential.
… (more)
 
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Gypsy_Boy | 12 other reviews | Aug 26, 2023 |
Probably better in the original language. Romanticism doesn't need discourse.
 
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judeprufrock | 12 other reviews | Jul 4, 2023 |

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Works
221
Also by
34
Members
2,023
Popularity
#12,708
Rating
3.9
Reviews
31
ISBNs
283
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18
Favorited
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