Transcribed from the 1861 Robert Hardwicke edition by David Price,
PETER SCHLEMIHL:
FROM THE GERMAN
of
ADELBERT VON CHAMISSO:
translated
BY SIR JOHN BOWRING, LL.D., &c.
WITH PLATES BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”—Shakspeake.
THIRD EDITION.
LONDON:
ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY.
1861.
p. 4london:
robert hardwicke, printer, 192, piccadilly.
p. 5NOTICE.
Adelung said to me one day at Petersburg—“Have youread Peter Schlemihl?”—“No.”—“If you read it, you will translate it.”—I have translated it.
The story is a moral one. I leave its development to my readers. It would be little flattering to them to suspect they required my assistance, in order to discover the obvious lessons it conveys.
I have not scrupled to introduce a few verbal alterations; butthe deviations from the original are very trifling.
The Translator.
p. 7To my Friend Wangner
Come to the land of shadows for awhile,
And seek for truth and wisdom! Here below,
In the dark misty paths of fear and woe,
We weary out our souls and waste our toil;
But if we harvest in the richer soil
Of towering thoughts—where holy breezes blow,
And everlasting flowers in beauty smile—
No disappointment shall the labourer know.
Methought I saw a fair and sparkling gem
In this rude casket—but thy shrewder eye,
Wangner! a jewell’d coronet could descry.
Take, then, the bright, unreal diadem!
Worldlings may doubt and smile insultingly,
The hidden stores of truth are not for them.
J. B.
p. 9To the Same, from Fouqué
We must, dear Edward, protect the history of poor Schlemihl—and so protect it that it may be concealed from the eyes that are not to look into it. This is a disagreeable business; for of such eyes there is a multitude, andwhat mortal can decide what shall be the fate of a MS. which is more hard to guard than even an uttered word. In truth, I feel as if my head were turning round, and in my anguish jump into the abyss—let the whole affair be printed!
But, Edward! there are really stronger and better grounds for this decision. Unless I am wholly deceived, there beat in our beloved Germany many hearts which are able and worthy to understand poor Schlemihl, and a tranquil smile will light upon the countenance of many an honest countryman of ours at the p. 10bitter sport in which life with him—and the simplesport in which he with himself is engaged. And yo