This volume reproduces for the first time the lively correspondence between the sculptor Friedrich Tieck (1776-1851), and his sister Sophie, and their Weimar friend Amalie von Voigt, in the period 1804 to 1837, which offers interesting insights into many aspects of the social and cultural life of the period. Tieck's circle of close acquaintances included such luminaries as August Schlegel (1767-1845), Madame de Staël (1766-1817), and Christian Daniel Rauch (1777-1857), the fellow sculptor with whom he worked closely both in Rome and Carrara; moreover, Christian van Voigt, Amalie's brother, was the son of the Weimar minister of the same name, a close friend and confidant of Goethe, and well connected with the intellectual and political leaders of the day. Private insights into the characters, aspirations and fears of some of the most prominent contemporary figures are thus revealed through these personal documents.
The letters, preserved in archives in Weimar, have been transcribed and edited from the original and are presented in the original German with an introduction and notes in English.