r realities. Different as their
adventures are, there is a striking similarity in the characters of
Nathaniel, Victor, and the painter Berthold, and Hoffmann seems to be
exhibiting his own internal nature as the extreme of unhealthiness.
The same tone may be perceived in his other writings, and his obvious
reverence for the prosaic and common-place, as the antithesis to
himself, is remarkable. The story of the _Sandman_ had its origin in a
discussion which actually took place between La Motte Fouque and some
friends, at which Hoffmann was present. Some of the party found fault
with the cold, mechanical deportment of a young lady of their
acquaintance, while La Motte Fouque zealously defended her. Here
Hoffmann caught the notion of the automaton Olympia, and the arguments
used by Nathaniel are those that were really employed by La Motte
Fouque.

A writer of extraordinary fancy and invention, but working for a more
obvious purpose, and producing narratives more related in character to
popular legends, was Wilhelm Hauff, of whom likewise there are three
specimens in this volume. He was born on the 29th of November, 1809,
at Stuttgard, and in early life showed a great predilection for telling
childish narratives. Being designed for the theological profession, he
went to the University of Tuebingen in 1820. Afterwards he became a
private teacher at Stuttgard, and began his literary career with the
_Almanach of Tales for the year_ 1826. This was followed by
_Contributions from Satan's Memoirs_, and the _Man in the Moon_, the
latter of which was designed to satirise the popular writer Clauren.
Hauff's historical romance of _Lichtenstein_ acquired great celebrity,
and the collection of tales called the _Caravan_, which have
contributed to this volume, are in the happiest vein. Hauff needs only
to be known to become popular in any country. His works, which are
somewhat numerous, although he died before he had completed his
twenty-sixth year (18th of November, 1827), were published in a
complete edition by the poet Gustav Schwab, in 1830.

Adam Oehlenschlaeger appears as the head of the romantic party in
Denmark, though he is as well known to the Germans as the Danes, having
published his works in both languages. He was born near Copenhagen, on
the 14th of November, 1779, and passed his youth in the Castle
Friedrichsberg, where his father was castellan. He began to study law
in 1800, but soon quitted the study, and,