THE LIFE OF GOETHE
BY CALVIN THOMAS, LL.D.
Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures, Columbia University
Goethe, the illustrious poet-sage whom Matthew Arnold called the "clearest, largest, and most helpful thinker of modern times," was born August 28, 1749, at Frankfurt on the Main.[2] He was christened Johann Wolfgang. In his early years his familiar name was Wolfgang, or simply Wolf, never Johann. His family was of the middle class,...
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