Cyrus Hamlin Bücher

Goethe's early plays bear witness to his urgent desire to enliven German theater--an ambition that followed him to the National Theater in Weimar, where he was named director in the early 1790s. This volume contains eight of these plays, written between 1771 and 1787. Not only do they demonstrate Goethe's unprecedented versatility in experimenting with new forms of dramatic expression, but they also give insight into his development from Sturm und Drang to classicism. These works include prose plays (Goetz von Berlichingen with the Iron Hand and Egmont), tragedies and comedies (Clavigo, Stella, and Brother and Sister), and dramatic verse forms (Prometheus, Jery and Betty, and Proserpina).

A distinguished poet-translator presents faithful verse translations of 72 poems in a bilingual edition with commentary and biographical material.Rainer Maria Rilke’s best poems are finally available in translations so faithful yet free flowing that a reader forgets they were not originally written in English. Applying the same principle of “form-true” rendering that earned him the Bollingen Prize for his translation of Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, poet-translator Walter Arndt boldly claims to reproduce in English for the first time the prosodic identity of Rilke’s finest rhymed poems.

Cyrus Hamlin's biographical narrative unfolds his transformative years in Istanbul as a Protestant missionary and educator. He founded Bebek Seminary and later established Robert College in 1860, aiming to provide secular education. His reflections on the college's construction highlight his significant contributions to education in the Ottoman Empire. Serving as rector until 1876, he later became a theology professor and college president in the U.S. Hamlin's insights offer a rich perspective on the social and political landscape of nineteenth-century Istanbul during a pivotal era for the Ottoman Empire.

Focusing on the experiences of Cyrus Hamlin, the book offers a vivid portrayal of Istanbul during the late Ottoman Empire. Hamlin, an American missionary and founder of Robert College, shares his insights from thirty-five years in Turkey, discussing the empire's origins, social life, education, and reforms. His firsthand accounts capture the complexities of the time, highlighting both the challenges and beauty of a city in transition while providing a unique perspective on the historical events shaping the region.