Goethe's Writing Book

Young Goethe's Works

The Labores juveniles is the earliest surviving manuscript by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), one of the greatest figures of German literary history as well as one of the most influential people of the 19th century. Although it has been rebound, this 250-year-old codex originates from the hand of the young literary genius and serves as a record of his education. The text consists mostly of translation work in German, Latin, and Greek as well as school exercises, poetry, and various dictations. Dating from March of 1757 to January of 1759, this manuscript represents the earliest of Goethe’s writings that have survived to posterity and is a rare and valuable piece of literary history.

The Life of Young Goethe

Aside from representing the earliest surviving written works from the hand of the literary genius, the manuscript offers an inside view of Goethe’s family life and childhood home, which is now a popular tourist destination in Frankfurt. Complete with an extensive private library, the Goethe family home was a center of intellectual life. His father was determined that his children would have all the advantages he did not and hired private tutors in addition to his own instruction. However, the prosperity of the family did not shield them from tragedy and all their children save for Wolfgang and his sister Cornelia did not survive childhood. Initially interested in painting, young Goethe soon focused on literature before studying history, religion, and law. Goethe was already a celebrated author at the age of 26 when was ennobled by the Duke of Saxe Weimar, Karl August (1757–1828) following the success of his novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. Over the following decades of his long and storied career, Goethe would establish himself as the greatest and most influential writer in the German language.