The Labyrinth (Oxford World's Classics)

'This travel book is truly a labyrinth--or, more precisely, a piece of the labyrinth that it has been my fate to wander, from the cradle to the grave.' Jens Baggesen's The Labyrinth (1792-93) is a genre-bending and highly personal travel book that follows the young Danish author's journey, made in 1789, from Copenhagen through Germany to the Swiss border at Basel. In its outer form, it follows the conventions of travel writing: describing the cities, landscapes, and notable people encountered on the route, while also offering critical commentary on art, architecture, theatre, and literature, mixed with reactions to the unfolding French Revolution. However, Baggesen finds contemporary travel writing to be pedantic and dry and is determined to make his own account as engaging and personal as possible. Based on the principle that 'nothing is more necessary in a volume of travels than a traveller', the narrative eschews a focus on prescribed sights and instead foregrounds his individual responses to the places and people he encounters. Baggesen's account of his journey is not simply sentimental, but rather moves through an array of different, often conflicting affective and intellectual register: from dejection to wit, whimsy, and ebullient joy, including enchanted observations of nature as well as cosmopolitan reveries about the brotherhood of nations. Similarly, the prose style of the book---always acknowledged as a key feature--is determinedly eclectic. A richly varied compendium of literary styles, attitudes, and philosophical ideas, brought to life in a new English translation by Jesper Gulddal, The Labyrinth offers a rare glimpse into the mind of an endlessly thinking, feeling, and imagining traveller at a pivotal moment in European history. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. Cover OXFORD WORLD’S CLASSICS JENS BAGGESEN: The Labyrinth Copyright ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Cosmopolitanism and Individualism Escaping Copenhagen The Travelling Subject Ancients and Moderns Revolutionary Politics and Cosmopolitan Dreams Baggesen after The Labyrinth The Rhythm of the Ride NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY Editions Translations Critical Studies Further Reading in Oxford World’s Classics A CHRONOLOGY OF JENS BAGGESEN Map of Baggesen’s Travel Route THE LABYRINTH: Or Journey through Germany, Switzerland, and France VOLUME I CONTENTS OF THE FIRST PART PREFACE SUPPLEMENT TO THE PREFACE COPENHAGEN The Journey’s Aim The Passport COPENHAGEN ROADSTEAD A Warning The Food Basket Køge Bay THE BALTIC SEA KIEL Continuation JOURNEY FROM KIEL TO LÜBECK Preetz Preetz The Landscape around Plön The Landscape around Plön Between Eutin and Lübeck Between Eutin and Lübeck LÜBECK The Greeting The Double Angel Lübeck’s Mercury A Chapter for Professors More about Lübeck TREMSBÜTTEL POPPENBÜTTEL HAMBURG Klopstock les états généraux3 The Hamburg Theatre King Lear Hamburg ALTONA Gerstenberg HAMBURG SPeersort The Hamburg Stock Exchange The Farewell To Whom it May Concern Wandsbek The Vierlande The Border LÜNEBURG LÜNEBURG HEATH Philosophy on the Heath Lüneburg Heath The Devil’s Stone Road Lüneburg Heath CELLE The Mausoleum HANOVER HAMELIN Fort George PYRMONT The Arrival The Unexpected Encounter Contrasts A Day in Pyrmont HERMANNSBERG KÖNIGSBERG PYRMONT TO THE READER VOLUME II CONTENTS OF THE SECOND PART THE FOOT OF THE HARZ Einbeck Northeim GÖTTINGEN Postal Despair Bürger Die Gleichen MÜNDEN KASSEL HESSE The New Chatti Marburg Giessen Butzbach FRIEDBERG The Evening The Burgravine The Fourteenth of July FRANKFURT AM MAIN The Musical Comedy Jew Lane The Christian Patricide THE RIVER MAIN The Market Boat THE RIVER RHINE MAINZ Kosthime In the Street On the Pontoon Bridge St Ignatius Church The Peacock The Serenade Looking Back on the Preceding Part Distilled Madness WORMS MANNHEIM Plaster and Marble Iffland The City in Verse Here is our path! The Picture Gallery The Flood THE RIVER NECKAR Freedom and the Four Elements Schwetzingen HEIDELBERG BRUCHSAL DURLACH KARLSRUHE RASTATT A Foretaste of Death STRASBOURG Strasbourg Cathedral The Theatre The Hôtel d’Esprit End Song JOURNEY THROUGH ALSACE The Morning ARRIVAL IN BASEL TO THE READER NOTICE APPENDIX Two Published Samples from the Incomplete Volume III of The Labyrinth THE TEMPLE OF MARY IN EINSIEDELN ROUSSEAU’S ISLAND, OR ST PETER IN LAKE BIEL EXPLANATORY NOTES End Ads