NOVALIS, pseudonym of Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772-1801), was an early German Romantic poet, mystic and philosopher who greatly influenced later Romantic thought.

Novalis studied law at the University of Jena, where he became acquainted with Friedrich von Schiller, and then at Leipzig, where he formed a friendship with Friedrich von Schlegel and was introduced to the philosophical ideas of Immanuel Kant and Johann Gottlieb Fichte.  Novalis read deeply in science, law, philosophy, politics and political economy.  His unfinished project for a "universal science," published in English as NOTES FOR A ROMANTIC ENCYCLOPAEDIA, contains his thoughts on philosophy, the arts, religion, literature and poetry, and his theory of "Magical Idealism."

Following the death of his fiancé, Sophie, Novalis expressed his grief in HYMNS TO THE NIGHT (1800), six prose poems and verse that are considered to be the climax of his lyrical work and the most important poetry of the German early Romanticism.  The hymns celebrate night, or death, as an entry into a higher life in the presence of God and anticipate a mystical and loving union with Sophie and the universe as a whole after his own death.  The mythical romance HEINRICH VON OFTERDINGEN (1802), set in an idealized vision of the European Middle Ages, describes the mystical and romantic searchings of a young poet.  In the unfinished fragment DISCIPLES AT SAIS, the author’s reverence for the natural world pours out of every page.

Two collections of fragments that appeared during his lifetime, “Pollen” (1798) and “Faith and Love” (1798) [both available in PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGS], indicate his attempt to unite poetry, philosophy, and science in an allegorical interpretation of the world.  His original and innovative thought explores many questions that are current today, such as truth and objectivity, reason and the imagination, language and mind, and revolution and the state.


The following books are in PDF format unless otherwise noted:

* Birth of Novalis, The (SUNY, 2007).  Bruce Donehower, ed.
* Classic and Romantic German Aesthetics (Cambridge, 2003).  J.M. Bernstein, ed.
* Disciples at Saïs and Other Fragments, The (Methuen, 1903).  F.V.M.T. and U.C.B., trans.
* Fichte Studies (Cambridge, 2003).  Jane Kneller, ed.
* German Romantic Criticism (Continuum, 1982).  Leslie Willson, ed. -- PDF by Mohamed5438
* Henry von Ofterdingen: A Romance (Dover, 2015).  Ludwig Tieck, intro. -- PDF + ePUB
* Hymns to the Night (McPherson, 1988).  Bilingual edition.  Dick Higgins, trans.
* Notes for a Romantic Encyclopaedia (SUNY, 2007).  David W. Wood, ed.
* Philosophical Writings (SUNY, 1997).  Margaret Mahony Stoljar, ed.

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