notes, elucidations, etc. in your style, upon difficult and choice. passages, would still greatly embellish it"). On the contrary, the quotation from Bodmer's first edition might point to Zellweger as the source of his information concerning Milton. If not through the Spectator, whence then could Bodmer's knowledge have come? There are two possible sources, both suggested by Hans Bodmer2): some one of the Dutch periodicals, "which, like the Journal littéraire, were publishing noteworthy treatises on English poetry"; and his friend Zellweger (hinted at in the preceding paragraph), who furnished Bodmer with his first copy of Milton in the original. For the Dutch periodicals there seems to be no evidence, although Milton was given a prominent place in them;2) but certain facts concerning Zellweger are pertinent. Laurenz Zellweger), six years Bodmer's senior, and to whom Bodmer was introduced by Breitinger, was a physician, who, after spending his youth at Lyon, went to Paris, and in this city and in Leyden obtained a broad, liberal education in both literature and science. The great attainments of this man, his knowledge of the world, cheerful philosophy of life, mother-wit, and jovial humor, attracted Bodmer to him, and a friendship sprang up between the two, which lasted till the death of Zellwegerin 1764. To the extensive correspondence between them — in manuscript in Trogen and in the city library of Zürich treating generally of philosophical topics, but serving, too, as a running commentary on the politics of the period, we are indebted for most of the facts connected with Bodmer's translation of Milton. Zellweger and Breitinger were Bodmer's counselors, encouraging him, also restraining him, when his enthusiasm for reform carried him too far. In an ode entitled "Ode an Philokles" (in which Philokles stands 1) III. 390. in the city library of Zürich; quoted from Th. Vetter, in "J. J. Bodmer", p. 349. 2) H. Bodmer, p. 183. 3) Most of the following facts are taken from Mörikofer, pages 86-8. for Zellweger), occurs a stanza1), which, translated freely, runs thus: "To him I dare reveal the inmost recesses of my soul: my most vigorous as well as my most immature thought; the latter he brings near maturity, exalting it still higher." On his return to his birthplace Trogen Zellweger brought with him a choice library of books on various subjects. Among these were a number of English authors. In the letter already mentioned, addressed to Zellweger, under the date of May 30, 17232), Bodmer requests his friend to furnish him with some books in English suitable to his tastes and equal to his ability (presumably to read English), and suggests Milton's Paradise Lost. We learn, further, that he is meanwhile awaiting the arrival of a consignment of books from Holland. As Bodmer does not apparently hear from his friend, the request is renewed in a second letter, in June.3) A note on the manuscript states that this letter was answered in July. Still the books were not sent. But in August Zellweger appeared in person in Zürich and brought with him what was, according to Fuessli, the only copy of Milton that could be found between the Reuss and the upper Rhine.") This was the duodecimo edition by Tonson5), — either that of 1719, or the one of 1721.6) To sum up then what we know beyond a doubt about Bodmer's first knowledge of Milton, we find: that he sent to 1) Five stanzas are given on page 88 of Mörikofer. Hans Bodmer furnishes the following reference (p. 182): Kritische Lobgedichte und Elegien. Von J. G. S[chulthess] besorgt. Zürich 1747. S. 135. 2) Unpublished. At the Zellweger family library, in Trogen. Hans Bodmer, page 184. Likewise unpublished, in Trogen. 4) Fuessli (Bodmer's biographer) in Neues Schweizerisches Museum. 1. Jahrgang 1794, S. 803. Quoted from Jenny, p. 19. 5) Tonson was the second publisher of Milton's Paradise Lost, the copyright of which remained in the Tonson family down to 1750. The 1719 edition was the tenth, and between the ninth (1711) and the tenth, Addison's criticisms appeared in the Spectator 1711–1712). David Masson, page 11 of his Introduction. 6) Hans Bodmer, page 185, note 1. Holland for a consignment of books, mentioning, however, none by name; that while awaiting their arrival he applied to his friend Zellweger in Trogen in two letters, several months apart, for some English books, naming Milton among a number of other authors in the first, and asking outright for this author in the second; that Zellweger brought a rare copy of Milton in person to Zürich (the books from Holland not having yet arrived); and it may be added that no mention was made of either Addison or the Spectator during the progress of the work of translation. B. His translation of Milton's Paradise Lost. 1. Details of the Work. Zellweger remained only a few weeks in Zürich, for, September 3rd1), Bodmer received a letter from Trogen, in which his friend thanks him for the hospitality enjoyed on the banks of the Limmat.2) In Bodmer's answer a few weeks later3), we find the first information concerning the work of translating Milton; for, after asking for certain English books, which he mentions by name, declaring that he is "hungry" after English reading, he begs to be allowed to retain Milton a few months longer. He mentions again the consignment he is still expecting from Holland, and hopes, meanwhile, to be able to gain access to the library of one Stockar in Schaffhausen. 1) Sch. Mus. 1784. Bd. III, S. 906. H. Bodmer, p. 185, n. 2. 2) The Limmat is a small stream flowing through Zürich. A good picture of the stream, together with the grove where Bodmer and his friend Breitinger were accustomed to promenade, is to be found on page 13 of "Johann Jacob Bodmer". 3) Sept. 23, 1723. Unprinted. Trogen. H. Bodmer, p. 185, n. 3. From this letter we may infer that Bodmer set to work at once reading Milton's Paradise Lost, Nothing definite is known on this point. Such items as we possess concerning the reading and subsequent translation of the poem do not enable us to follow in detail the turning of each book into German. We learn that he purposed using a Latin-English dictionary1), although by this time he was tolerably familiar with English.) The account which follows is based upon unprinted letters contained in the private library in Trogen, and the city library of Zürich.3) Bodmer's impressions and ideas as found in these letters are so interesting that it seems worth while to quote at length from them. A portion of the letter of September 23rd reads as follows: "After such a long retention of Paradise Lost, it seems indeed fitting that I should furnish you some sort of an account of my reading of it: hence I am communicating to you the following observation. To Adams question whether the angels, if they enjoy matrimonial co-mixing, as we say among us mortals, do so through 'irradiance') or 'virtual touch' or by looks only the angel Raphael answers: "When Spirits embrace, they mix entire, more easily than air, unite pure with pure, irradiate totally and are not mixed like flesh with flesh, and breath with breath." What do you think of this? My humble opinion is that Adam knew neither what he had asked nor what the angel had answered. What is this 'irradiance' of 1) Neues Sch. Mus. 1793 S. 803 ff. H. Bodmer, page 186. 2) This is attested in the letter already cited (Bodmer to Zellweger, Sept. 23, 1723) in which Bodmer writes that he has finished reading a treatise on the Free-thinker (Bacon). [Hans Bodmer remarks that "his knowledge of the English goes so far that little is wanting to him therewith" (185)]. In this same letter Bodmer asks for Addison's Cato, Dryden's All for Love, Congreve's Double Dealer and Cibber's Careless Husband; also for the works of Count Rochester and for the Tatler. 3) It may be stated here, once for all, that "all of Bodmer's letters to Zellweger are contained in two manuscript quarto volumes, preserved in the private library of Trogen" (Crüger, page 5); and all Zellweger's letters to Bodmer are preserved at the city library of Zürich in unprinted manuscript (Crüger, page 11). Mörikofer, Hans Bodmer, and Jenny constantly refer to and quote these letters, and I have, in turn, availed myself of the extracts given in their works. 4) These are, of course, Milton's terms. heavenly Spirits, 'immediate touch'? How do two Spirits irra- "I will close now, and so allow your spirit to be embraced Zürich, Sept. 22, 1723." friend and servant. Here is Zellweger's reply:1) "The argument you propose to me concerning a passage in Milton, passes my sphere; I have always thought, and I think so still, that we poor little creatures are by no means in position to reason about the attributes of God; the ideas that have been given to us of them are all full of contradictions, as you insinuate in your letter, and the more we wish to follow a certain thread, the more we go astray: take the case of our Reverends; the idea that I have of our omnipotent Sovereign is so high, and that of the essence of our being, so low, that I cannot endure a comparison." at The questions under discussion here are found in the eighth book of the poem, lines 614-629. It is to be presumed, in the absence of fact, that Bodmer had read by this time all the preceding seven books, and possibly the whole poem. Certain it is that this particular canto the eighth tracted him most, for it was the first as we shall presently see that he translated. But the question may very properly be introduced at this point: What was it, after all, that attracted Bodmer to Milton? To answer this, we must study the character of the Swiss author. Reared amid the quiet and peace of a clergyman's family, the boy escaped the rude jostlings of the city lad, while the solitary surroundings of mountain, forest, and lake, without boy companionship, gave a meditative coloring to his disposition. He thus grew up with a pious, shy, reserved nature, 1) In French, July 24, 1724. Quoted by H. Bodmer, p. 196, n. 2. |