The Swabian German Romantic poet, medical doctor, scientist, and investigator of parapsychological phenomena Justinus Kerner (1786–1862) has long been celebrated as one of the leading intellectuals of his time. His renowned study of a local clairvoyant, Die Seherin von Prevorst [The Seeress of Prevorst] (1829), was translated into English as early as 1845 by the English writer, Catherine Crowe. Encouraged by the Romantic interest in childhood, Kerner in later life wrote a book of youthful reminiscences under the title Bilderbuch aus meiner Knabenzeit [Sketches from My Boyhood] (1849). Inspired by such well-known memoirs of youth as Goethe’s Dichtung und Wahrheit [Poetry and Truth] and Jung-Stilling’s Heinrich Stillings Leben [The Life of Heinrich Stilling], Kerner’s Sketches is a much shorter, more modest account of his boyhood years in the Duchy (then Kingdom) of Württemberg. Consisting of eighty-six loosely related sketches, or vignettes, Sketches from My Boyhood is a vivid, charming, often entertaining, sometimes serious, narrative of growing up in, above all, Ludwigsburg, the site of the magnificent Ludwigsburg Palace. Although emphasizing primarily the personal facets of his early life, Kerner does not ignore the ever-present reality of the French Revolution and its impact on such German states as Württemberg. Sketches from My Boyhood merits its recognition as a gem of nineteenth-century German autobiographical writing.

The Swabian German Romantic poet, medical doctor, scientist, and investigator of parapsychological phenomena Justinus Kerner (1786â "1862) has long been celebrated as one of the leading intellectuals of his time. His renowned study of a local clairvoyant, Die Seherin von Prevorst [The Seeress of Prevorst] (1829), was translated into English as early as 1845 by the English writer, Catherine Crowe. Encouraged by the Romantic interest in childhood, Kerner in later life wrote a book of youthful reminiscences under the title Bilderbuch aus meiner Knabenzeit [Sketches from My Boyhood] (1849). Inspired by such well-known memoirs of youth as Goetheâ (TM)s Dichtung und Wahrheit [Poetry and Truth] and Jung-Stillingâ (TM)s Heinrich Stillings Leben [The Life of Heinrich Stilling], Kernerâ (TM)s Sketches is a much shorter, more modest account of his boyhood years in the Duchy (then Kingdom) of WÃ1/4rttemberg. Consisting of eighty-six loosely related sketches, or vignettes, Sketches from My Boyhood is a vivid, charming, often entertaining, sometimes serious, narrative of growing up in, above all, Ludwigsburg, the site of the magnificent Ludwigsburg Palace. Although emphasizing primarily the personal facets of his early life, Kerner does not ignore the ever-present reality of the French Revolution and its impact on such German states as WÃ1/4rttemberg. Sketches from My Boyhood merits its recognition as a gem of nineteenth-century German autobiographical writing.

Justinus Kerner (1786–1862) was one of the most celebrated figures in nineteenth-century German culture. A physician by training, he was also a leading member of the Swabian Romantic circle of poets which included, among others, Ludwig Uhland and Gustav Schwab. Kerner’s international fame rests primarily on his contributions to the investigation of paranormal phenomena. The most important of these was his exhaustive case study, Die Seherin von Prevorst (The Seeress of Prevorst, 1829). The book was translated into English in 1849 by the English writer, Catherine Crowe (1803–76). Until the present, this has been the only work of Kerner available in English. Apart from his many scientific publications and his poetry, Kerner was also the author of one of the more intriguing literary works of German Romanticism, Die Reiseschatten (Travel Shadows, 1811). Ostensibly an account of his travels through Germany and Austria following his graduation from the University of Tübingen, the book is a highly imaginative, almost surreal concoction of Romantic, sentimental, grotesque, satirical, and Old German folkloric elements. Attributed by Kerner to an itinerant “shadow performer” named Lux, Travel Shadows was inspired by the tradition of “Chinese Shadows” (ombres chinoises) and represents Kerner’s attempt to create a travel narrative in the form of a grandiose shadow show. In the introduction to his translation of Travel Shadows – the first in English – Harold B. Segel situates Kerner’s work in the context of the emergence of a German shadow show tradition in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

In 850 analytical articles, this two-volume set explores the developments that influenced the profound changes in thought and sensibility during the second half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century. The Encyclopedia provides readers with a clear, detailed, and accurate reference source on the literature, thought, music, and art of the period, demonstrating the rich interplay of international influences and cross-currents at work; and to explore the many issues raised by the very concepts of Romantic and Romanticism.