ion with Werter_, had
three American reprints.[31] These, together with translations
imported from England, must have made Werter well known in this
country. It is not surprising, therefore, to find in the magazines
eight poems on the subject: _Narcissa_, containing a reference to
Werter in the third stanza (1787), _Charlotte's Soliloquy--to the
Manes of Werter_ (1787), _Death of Werter_ (1787), _Werter's Epitaph_
(1787, 1791, 1805), _On Reading the Sorrows of Werter_ (1790), _Letter
LXI of the Sorrows of Werter, Versified_ (1791), _Werter's Farewell to
Charlotte_ (1798) and _Charlotte at the Tomb of Werter_ (1809).

[Footnote 31: Wilkens, _op. cit._, p. 164 seq.]

The early American magazines, then, were instrumental in making German
literature and especially German poetry known in America. It was
possible for them to print translations of individual poems of an
author long before there was a demand for them in book form. Gessner,
Buerger, Gellert, Lessing and others have already been mentioned in
this connection. It is interesting to note just what poets were
introduced to the American public by means of the magazines. Gessner
and Buerger were the most popular, the former appearing twenty-five
times and the latter ten times before 1811. Gessner was perhaps the
German poet best known in America. During this period his _Death of
Abel_ had no less than sixteen American imprints and four imitations,
while translations of his _Idyls_ appeared in book form twice in 1802
and once in 1807.[32] Buerger, on the other hand, was known only
through these poems in the magazines, or perhaps through imported
books. No volume of translations of his poems belongs to this period
of American printing.

[Footnote 32: Wilkens, _op. cit._, p. 108 seq. and 164 seq.

In England, likewise, the _Idyls_ were constantly on the
book-market and _The Death of Abel_ had 20 editions before
1800. Cf. Herzfeld, _op. cit._, p. 6.]

After these, Gellert, Lessing and Haller had some share of recognition
both by translation and criticism. Goethe, as has been shown, was
known as the author of _Werter_. As for his lyrical productions, only
two appeared, _The Erl-King_ (1798) and _Frederick and Alice_,
"Imitated rather than translated from a fragment introduced in
Goethe's _Claudine von Villa Bella_" (1807). Other poets, like Jacobi,
Klopstock, Matthisson, Kotzebue, Patzke or Buerde, found an occasional
admirer, but not enough was don