Sämtliche Werke
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Karl Philipp Moritz
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Edited by:
Martin Disselkamp
The Critical Edition of Moritz's Works (KMA) reveals for the first time the complete works of a key figure from the history of German literature and ideas who resided at the intersection between Enlightenment, Classicism, and Romanticism. Apart from producing a reliable edition of the texts, a main objective of this work is to provide a meticulous historical commentary.
The edition, which contains 13 volumes (Vols. 4, 5, and 7 each comprise two parts), presents the complete works and letters of Karl Philipp Moritz (1756-1793), together with documents from his activity as member of the Berlin Academy of Arts and of the Berlin Academy of Sciences.
The division of the volumes reflects the multiplicity of genres and subject areas treated by Moritz - poetry, travelogues, journalism, aesthetics, ancient studies, mythology, the theory of language, education, psychology, moral philosophy, freemasonry, as well as the editing and translation of works from foreign languages. It was a particular concern of the editors to document both Moritz's interdisciplinary achievements in linking these manifold interests and his involvement in the intellectual environment of late-Enlightenment Berlin.
The psychological novel Anton Reiser (1785–1790) is Karl Philipp Moritz’ best-known major work and a key text for German Enlightenment. The present volume is the first complete critical edition. A detailed commentary analyzes the innovative structure of the work as a hybrid blend of fiction and autobiographical fact. It discusses both the underlying literary patterns and the descriptive processes involved in Moritz’ Erfahrungsseelenkunde (experiential psychology), as well as the personal and historical background of the narrative. This casts new light on Anton Reiser as an autobiographical construct.
Ab 1785, vor allem jedoch seit seiner Italienreise (1786–1788) beschäftigte sich der Berliner Spätaufklärer und Frühklassizist Karl Philipp Moritz (geb. 1756) bis zu seinem frühen Tod 1793 intensiv mit kunst- und literaturtheoretischen Fragen. Gegenüber seinem zurückliegenden Schaffen, das sich u.a. auf pädagogische Schriften, sprachwissenschaftliche Studien, auf die „Erfahrungsseelenkunde" und die ersten Teile des Romans „Anton Reiser" konzentriert hatte, war dies eine Schwerpunktverlagerung. Dafür gab es einen biographischen Anlass – die Ernennung zum Professor der Theorie der schönen Künste an der Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Dem Kunsttheoretiker Moritz verdanken wir bahnbrechende Schriften zur klassizistischen Programmatik des ausgehenden 18. Jahrhunderts, unter ihnen an erster Stelle den Aufsatz „Ueber die bildende Nachahmung des Schönen", aber auch Beiträge zur Kunstbeschreibung, zur Allegorie und zur Ornamentik. Band 3 der kritischen Moritz-Ausgabe enthält die einschlägigen Publikationen aus Moritz‘ Feder, unter ihnen mehrere umfangreichere selbständige Veröffentlichungen („Vorbegriffe zu einer Theorie der Ornamente"; „Versuch einer deutschen Prosodie"; „Vorlesungen über den Styl"). Dokumentiert ist in dem Band auch der Austausch von Streitschriften mit dem Pädagogen, Schriftsteller und Verleger Joachim Heinrich Campe. Die Ausgabe umfasst Textkritik, ausführliche Kommentare, Dokumente und Einführungen.
After completing his education, Karl Philipp Moritz (1756-1793) was employed as a teacher and professor throughout his life. Volume 6 of his Collected Works, Writings on Pedagogy and Freemasonry includes all of his writings that are directly related to pedagogical practice. Also included are texts with a subtler but clear pedagogical intent, such as Moritz’s only sermon that has been preserved in its entirety, as well as the collection Die große Loge (“The Great Lodge”)(1793), which contains essays on moral philosophy, aesthetics, and freemasonry, and at the same time serves as an excellent introduction to the evolution of Moritz’s thought.
Volume 9 of the critical edition of Karl Philipp Moritz' complete works provides renewed access to Moritz' guides to letter-writing: Anleitung zum Briefschreiben (1783) and Allgemeiner deutscher Briefsteller (1793). In the interests of an authentic personal style, Moritz bases his counsels very largely on authentic letters and takes most of his examples from his own everyday experience. Accordingly, these guides contain various epistolary documents on Moritz' life and works. In addition, the authentic letters used as models provide precise insights into the hierarchic structures of late 18th century Prussian society. The edition elucidates the texts with a detailed commentary on their biographical, historical, and art-theoretic context (including the history of their reception). Here special emphasis is given to the interrelations between these two guides and Moritz' other works on language and style.
This volume restores access to the journalistic works of this late Enlightenment author, including the first volume of the journal Denkwürdigkeiten (i.e. "things worthy of being thought about") published in 1786, along with forewords, epilogues, and comments to the works published by von Moritz. The insights they provide about the diverse structure of the period should have enormous appeal to all aficionados of the 18th century.
