venth year. Considered externally, that change of his
surroundings is the most obvious event in his career, and for the
world at large marks its division into two well-defined periods. In
relation to his inner development his removal from Frankfort to Weimar
may also be regarded as the most important fact in his life. From the
date of his settlement in Weimar he was subjected to influences which
equally affected his character and his genius; had he continued to
make his home in Frankfort, it is probable that, both as man and
literary artist, he would have developed characteristics essentially
different from those by which the world knows him. There were later
experiences--notably his Italian journey and his intercourse with
Schiller--which profoundly influenced him, but none of these
experiences penetrated his being so permanently as the atmosphere of
Weimar, which he daily breathed for more than half a century.

As Goethe himself has said, the first twenty-six years of his life are
essentially the period of his "development." During that period we see
him as he came from Nature's hand. His words, his actions have then a
stamp of spontaneity which they gradually lost with advancing years as
the result of his social and official relations in Weimar. He has told
us that it was one of the painful conditions of his position there
that it made impossible that frank and cordial relation with others
which it was his nature to seek, and from which he had previously
derived encouragement and stimulus; as a State official, he adds, he
could be on easy terms with nobody without running the risk of a
petition for some favour which he might or might not be able to
confer.

For the portrayal of the youthful Goethe materials are even
superabundant; of no other genius of the same order, indeed, have we a
record comparable in fulness of detail for the same period of life.
And it is this abundance of information and the extraordinary
individuality to whom it relates that give specific interest to any
study of Goethe's youth. From month to month, even at times from day
to day, we can trace the growth of his character, of his opinions, of
his genius. And the testimonies of his contemporaries are unanimous as
to the unique impression he made upon them. "He will always remain to
me one of the most extraordinary apparitions of my life," wrote one;
and he expressed the opinion of all who had the discernment to
appreciate originality of gifts