Books by Novalis

First published in 1955, this volume contains three works by Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772-1801), the German Romantic philosopher and poet whose pseudonym Novalis was an ancient family name. It also contains a preface in English by Brian A. Rowley, which contextualizes the three works and offers a cursory description of Novalis's life.

This volume presents the first complete translation of Fichte Studies, a powerful, creative and sustained critique of Fichtean philosophy by the young philosopher-poet Friedrich von Hardenberg, who under the pen-name Novalis went on to become the most well-known and beloved of the early German Romantic writers. Anyone interested in the fate of German philosophy and literature immediately after Kant will find this collection of notes and aphorisms a treasure-trove of original contributions on the nature of self-consciousness, the relation of art to philosophy, and the nature of philosophical inquiry. There are also the beginnings of a strikingly contemporary-sounding semiotic theory. The text is translated by Jane Kneller, who also provides an introduction situating the Fichte Studies in the context of Novalis' life and work.