RUDOLF BORCHARDT: A BIOGRAPHICAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL STUDY

171 Pages·06.159 MB·English

by  BEERBAUM, ALFRED WALTER

INFORMATION TO USERS
This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While
the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document
have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original
submitted.
The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand
markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction.
1. The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document
photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing
page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages.
This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent
pages to insure you complete continuity.
2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it
is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have
moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a
good image of the page in the adjacent frame.
3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being
photographed the photographer followed a definite method in
"sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper
left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to
right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is
continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until
complete.
4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value,
however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from
"photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation. Silver
prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing
the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and
specific pages you wish reproduced.
5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as
received.
Xerox University Microfilms
300 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106
LD3907 I V 2,1941s
o&7 Beerbaum, Alfred Walter, 1907- 1
19^0 Rudolf Borchardt; a biographical
oBij. and bibliographical study.
New York, I9I4.90
vi,161 typewritten leaves. 2 9 cm.
Thesis (Ph.D.) - New York Univer­
sity, Graduate School, 1950.
"Chronological list of publication
of works by Borchardt": p.e118a-135.
"An alphabetical list of Borchardt
works": p.c 1 3 6 3-l!j.5 «.
""TL i, s.4t- of articles~ ab out.
Borchardt":
C1 5c.0f\n7O2%3 p .c iS lj.3 -1 5 7 .
: .Shelf Ifcil
Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106
THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED.
LIBRARY Of
Ilff YORK UNIVERSITY
ORIYERSITT HEIGHTS
R U D O L F B O R C H A R D T
Biographical and Bibliographical Study
by
\\& {
O' ^
W.
Alfred Beerbaum
A DI88ERTATI ON IN THE DEPARTMENT OF
German submitted in partial fu lfill­
ment OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DE­
GREE of Doctor of Philosophy at
New York University
■PgggMBgR I.9H9*
\ v \ 'I
F O R E W O R D
Th is dissertation is concerned w ith the life story of the German
POET, SCHOLAR, AND TRANSLATOR RUDOLF B O R C H A R D T ( IS77~ * 9U5 ^
AND WITH HIS WORKS AS FAR A8 THEIR BISLIOGRAPHICAL ASPECTS ARE CON­
CERNED. A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE WORKS IS ATTEMPTED ONLY IN THE
CASE OF A FEW ESSAYS AND POLITICAL ARTICLE8, IN80FAR AS THEY ILLUMI­
NATE ASPECT8 OF THE BIOGRAPHY. Not A GREAT DEAL HAS BEEN WRITTEN A-
bout Borchardt. There have, indeed, been a considerable number of re­
views OF HIS W0RK8 AND SOME ATTEMPT8 TO COMPREHEND HI 8 PERSONALITY,
BUT TH18 DISSERTATION MAY BE CONSIDERED THE FIR8T REAL ATTEMPT TO SEE
Borchardt whole, to present all sides of h is character, h is ver satili­
ty A3 A LITERARY ARTIST, AND SOME OF THE OPINIONS PEOPLE HAVE HELO A-
BOUT HIM AND HIS WORKS.
On THE OTHER HAND, THI8 DISSERTATION IS NOT CONCERNED WITH AN ES­
TIMATE of Borchardt*8 major works and h is place in literary history.
Such an estimate, to be really competent, would have to be based on
THE OPINIONS OF 8EVERAL SPECIALISTS, FOR SO DIVER8E WERE BORCHARDT'8
INTERE8T8 AND ABILITIES THAT ONLY A BOARD CONSISTING OF A GREEK SCHOL­
AR, an Italian histo rian, a medieval philo log ist, and a most versatile
CRITIC OF MODERN GERMAN LITERATURE COULD DO HIM JUSTICE. HOWEVER, A
KNOWLEDGE OF THE MATERIAL8 USED IN THIS DISSERTATION IS ADJUDGED TO BE
II
A PREREQUISITE FOR ANY 8TUDY ON HIS WORKS OR A GENERAL ESTIMATE.
Borchardt was one of the great controversial figures in tw entieth
century German literature, particularly during the period between the
*TWO WORLD WARS AND THE YEAR8 JUST PRECEDING THEM, AND HE CERTAINLY DE­
SERVES THE ATTENTION OF THE LITERARY HISTORIAN AND CRITIC OF TODAY,
FOR, ALTHOUGH NEVER A POPULAR AUTHOR, BUT APPRECIATED ONLY BY THE CUL-
TUREO FEW, HE WA8 RECOGNIZED IN LITERARY CIRCLE8 AS A WRITER OF REAL
DISTINCTION, AND THERE IS NO TELLING TO WHAT 8TATURE AND POPULARITY HE
MIGHT HAVE GROWN, HAD NOT THE ADVENT OF HlTLER FINISHED HI8 CAREER A8
FAR A8 THE WORLD WAS CONCERNED. BORCHARDT WAS A POET AND CONCERNED
WITH ETERNAL VALUE8 IN THE CULTURAL HERITAGE, SO THAT IT WELL 8EH00VE8 US
TO RE8UME THE CRITIQUE AND APPRECIATION OF HIS LEGACY WHICH WERE BEGUN
BEFORE 1933-
AdMITTEDLY, HE WA8 OCCASIONALLY IN ERROR, BUT THE IS8UE8 TO WHICH
HE CALLED ATTENTION WERE ALWAYS PRESENTED WITH SUCH INCISIVENE88 THAT
THE EN8UING DEBATEB COMPELLED THE LITERARY WORLD TO TAKE NOTE AND MAKE
A STAND. ThI8 BHOUSECLEANINg" SERVICE, WHICH ESTABLI8HE8 BORCHARDT AS
A DYNAMIC FORCE IN THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE OF THE NATION, HAS NOT BEEN
GENERALLY APPRECIATED. One CLASHED WITH HIS I88UE8, BUT DID NOT MEET
THE MAN. One EXPOSED HIS ERRORS, BUT DID NOT ALWAYS TAKE TIME TO STUDY
HIS GENUINE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CULTURAL STOCK, WITH THE RE8ULT THAT
HE REMAINED RELATIVELY UNKNOWN OUTSIDE O' PROFESSIONAL CIRCLES, AND RE­
LIABLE INFORMATION ABOUT HIM WA8 SCARCE.
Gathering the® biographical and bibliographical data has not been
easy. Source materials were found to be widely scattered. The com­
plete PUBLISHED WORKS COULD NOT 8E HAD IN ANY ONE PLACE. GREAT UNIVER­
SITY LIBRARIE8 SUCH A8 THOSE OF HEIDELBERG AND T0BINGEN HAD ONLY HALF A
111
DOZEN TITLE8 EACH, NOT TO SPEAK OF THOSE LIBRARIES PARTLY OE8TROYEO IN
the wARt - Munich. Marburg. Frankfurt. Ber lin , and the Hessian and Ba­
den State Librar ies. - all of which were consulted. To add to th is
DIFFICULTY. MISINFORMATION 18 RAMPANT, EVEN IN STANDARD REFERENCE
W0RK8. K08CH CITES IN HIS L|TERATUR-LexIKON1 A WORK PRESUMABLY PUB­
LISHED IN 1905 AND ENTITLED RlLKE UND HOFMANNSTHAL: BUT NO RECORD OR
REFERENCE TO IT HAS EVER BEEN FOUND. KosCH WAS PROBABLY THINKING OF
B orchardt's Rede Aber Hofmannsthal, published in I907 and in which
THERE IS TALK OF GeORGE, NOT RlLKE. BR0CKHAU8 8TATES THAT BORCHARDT
LIVED. AMONG OTHER PLACE8. IN HEIDELBERG AND WAS HOF BERLIN* IN 1929-
This is m isleading. True, he was in these c itie s on several occasions,
BUT ONLY FOR SHORT ENGAGEMENTS AS SPEAKER OR FOR RE8EARCH WORK AND ON
BU8INE8S. BR0CKHAU8 AL80 FIXE8 THE WRITING OF THE QeSPrI cH AbeR FpRMEN
und Platons Lybib deutsch at I903 and the fir s t p rin tin g of it a t 1912.
but Borchardt him self spoke of the work as representing his views a-
ROUND I9 0 l, AND IT WA8 DEFINITELY PUBLISHED IN LEIPZIG IN 1905* PER­
SONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF BORCHARDT*S FORMER FRIEND8 AND AS80CIATE8, TOO,
WERE OFTEN VAGUE AND BASED ON CONJECTURE.
Nevertheless, that material which has been made available to th is
WRITER IS SUFFICIENT FOR A FIRST ATTEMPT, AND IF OTHERS WHO HAVE ADDI­
TIONAL INFORMATION OR CAN RENDER MORE DEFINITE WHAT IS HERE CONJEC­
TURED, WILL COME FORWARD WITH THEIR KNOWLEDGE AS A RESULT OF THI8 AT­
TEMPT, IT WILL HAVE 8ERVE0 IT8 PURPOSE A8 THE NECESSARY INITIAL 8TEP
TOWARD A DEFINITIVE L| FE OF BORCHARDT.
Grateful acknowledgment is herewith made for invaluable support
given, to Or. Hanns Martin E l 8 t e r , now of 06sseldorf, for sug­
gesting THE TOPIC AND RENDERING ALL HELP P08SIBLE SUBSEQUENTLY; TO
I. 1st EDITION.
Marie-L uise B o r c h a r d t of Land Bremen for unhesitatingly of­
fering FOR USE HER LIBRARY OF HER LATE HUSBAND*S W0RK8J TO Dr. W|LLY
W i e g a n d of Munich, publisher and lifelo n g friend of Borchardt,
FOR VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO HIS LIFE THROUGH GLIMPSES OF PERSONAL RECOL­
LECTION AND DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE IN THE FORM OF LETTERS OVER A PERIOD
OF TEN YEARS; TO PROFESSOR Dr. HERMANN U h D E - B e R N A Y S OF
StARNBERg/BaVARIA FOR THE USE OF NEW MATERIALS, INCLUDING MANUSCRIPTS;
to Horst K l i e m a n n of the Oldenbourg Publishing Firm, Munich,
FOR THE USE OF THE RECORDS PERTAINING TO THE LAWSUIT BROUGHT AGAINST
Borchardt in connection with his pamphlet Die Literatur im Kampfe um
ihr Recht: to Rudolf Alexander S c h r 8 o e r , for rare additional
MATERIALS AND ILLUMINATING PERSONAL REMINISCENCES; AND TO PR0FES80R
Dr. Ernst R o s e of New York University for his kind assistance in
GIVING THIS DISSERTATION ITS FINAL FORM.
Plymouth, Mass.
November I9U9 ALFRED W. BEERBAUM
CONTENTS
PART ONE: THE BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY
Introduction .............................. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Early Years (I277-) ............................................................................
Birth - East Prussia - Antecedents - Childhood -
Early Education
University Life (18 9 5 - ) ............................................................................
Berlin 1395 - Bonn 1296 - Gottingen 1293 - Hof­
mannsthal - George - SchrSder
Italy ( 1901+- 19*U) .................................................................................................
Early Works - Travels - Associates - Marriage
World War 1 ....................................................................................................................
Political Speeches and Writings - Europeanism
Domestic Affairs and Business Relations ...................................
Divorce 1919/20 - Second Marriage 1921 - Author -
-Publisher Relations
The Troublesome and Productive Twenties ...................................
Difficult Beginnings - American Prospects - De­
pression Interlude: Munich and Bremen - Villa
di Bigiano - Illness - The Author at Work
The Orator and Pamphleteer (1929” ) ...............................................
Literature vs Commercialism - Literature vs Pol­
it ic s - Tragic Irony: The Advent of Hitler
VI
g. Last Years (l9 3 3 **'9 4 5 )................................................................................... 8S
Retirement - Friends - Last Works - World War
11 - Death
9« Borchardt the Man ..................................................................... 94
Appearance - Personality - Character
PART TWO: THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL STUDY
I. "Das Werk" - a Descriptive List of the Main Titles of
Borchardt’s Work by Literary Ty p e s ............................................... I 03
2. Chronological List of Publications of Works by Bor­
chardt, including Reviews ...................................................................... IIS
3. Alphabetical List of Works by Borchardt, including
36
Poems by T itles .................................................................................................... 1
l+. "Der Nachlass" - Being a Collection of Clues to What
May Be Expected in the Archivesi n I t a l y ..................................11+6
5. List of Articles about Borchardt, Alphabetical by
Authors ........................................................................................................................... 154
APPENDIX
"Prospect zur Bi bel-Ausgabe der Bremer Presse" . . . 159
BlBLIOGRAPHY 162
P A R T O N E
T H E B I O G R A P H I C A L S T U D Y