Novel
Adriatische Rosemund
Not translated into English
Philipp von Zesen · 1645
Opening lines
Hat man ihmahls di Sonne betrühbt, und den Nordohst ahtem-lohs gesähen, so ist es gewüslich damahls gewäsen, als sich Markhold von seiner Rosemund scheiden und zu schiffe nahch Frank-reich begäben solte […]
If ever the sun was seen saddened and the north-east wind breathless, it was surely when Markhold had to part from his Rosemund and take ship for France […]
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from zeno.org
Synopsis
In Amsterdam, the German Markhold loves Rosemund, daughter of a high-ranking Venetian settled with his family outside Italy. He is Protestant, she is Catholic, and the father demands that she keep her faith and that the daughters yet to be born be raised in it, which Markhold cannot accept. The novel opens with his departure by boat for France; apart, the lovers write to each other, and Rosemund doubts his attachment over a sentence she misunderstands.
Context
The book appeared in Amsterdam in 1645, from Elzevier, under the pseudonym Ritterhold von Blauen. Until then, the author had mainly translated, including a French novel published the year before; this time he draws the story largely from his own life, and places it in his own time rather than in a distant past. Narrative, letters and poems are mixed in it. The language is that of a reformer, with a spelling of his own invention, which his contemporaries thought odd, and coined words to replace those that came from Latin or French.
Who it is for
A long novel interspersed with letters and poems; the spelling of the original, peculiar to the author, requires patience or a modernised edition.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the first great German novel of the Baroque age, and the first narrative its author drew from his own invention.
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