At the centre of the intellectual awakening of the 18th century was one man in particular whose written word has stood the test of time: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Polymath, giant of German literature, lawyer, government minister, theatre director and a prodigious collector and naturalist, he was in every way a revolutionary, intent on pushing back the boundaries of perception and learning. Driven by an insatiable thirst for knowledge, his creative versatility knew no bounds. The philosophical depth of Faust, the lyrical subtlety of his poetry and the breadth of scientific exploration behind his colour theory and botanical treatises were of epochal significance and testify in their variety and far-reaching influence to Goethe’s genius. As a poet and statesman, advisor, friend and lover, he left an indelible mark on the world around him and serves to this day as a source of inspiration and vision. With the support of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar and the Goethe National Museum it houses, Montblanc is dedicating its Writers Edition Homage to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Limited Edition to this universal genius, focusing especially on his literary works. Writing was Goethe’s lifeblood. The largest edition of his complete works and writings currently comprises 40 volumes, containing around 3,000 poems alone. His drama, Götz von Berlichingen, was published anonymously in 1773, but just one year later a period of frenzied activity saw him writing The Sorrows of Young Werther in less than four weeks, catapulting the 25-year-old lawyer to overnight fame. The Sorrows of Young Werther put German writing onto the European literary map. It is the story of a young man caught between love and duty, between burning passion and social convention. An entire generation saw itself reflected in the fate of the unhappy Werther. The novel has even influenced this limited edition: its impressive description of marble inspired the appearance of the precious lacquer of cap and barrel, while the engraving on the barrel ring echoes the framing of a copperplate illustration in an early Werther edition. A further key design feature harks back to Goethe’s house in Weimar. The shade of blue and the pattern of the precious lacquer reflect the colour and structure of the wallpaper in the Juno room in the writer’s home. The signature gold-coated and platinum-coated fittings are also reminiscent of other decorative elements in the interior. A charming pattern akin to a string of clover leaves is engraved around the cap top. This detail originated from a letter written by Goethe to his beloved Charlotte Buff, the model for the figure of Lotte in his The Sorrows of Young Werther. An outstanding work of the Sturm und Drang movement, the young Goethe’s epistolary novel was hailed as a stroke of genius and, above all, a masterpiece of world literature. In a letter of 26 January 1827, Goethe interpreted the term ‘world literature’ in a far more literal manner than it is today, signifying a worldwide process of literary communication and mutual artistic stimulation. In the same way that he incorporated elements of Persian poetry in his West-Eastern Diwan cycle, such literature should aspire to be an expression of universality, transcending all linguistic, ethnic and temporal barriers. As a symbol of this concept of a global literary dialogue, epitomised by Goethe’s term ‘world literature’, the cap takes the form of a globe, crowned by the Montblanc emblem. Goethe’s Faust: A Tragedy is considered one of the most frequently translated and performed dramas in the world. Goethe himself praised a series of lithographs by painter Eugène Delacroix, commissioned as illustrations for the French translation of Faust. His depiction of Mephistopheles, flying above the nocturnal city, is echoed in the elaborate scene engraved on the nib. The lettering ‘Faust’ and ‘1790’ recall the date of publication in Leipzig of Faust. A Fragment. Faust’s thirst for knowledge and his irrepressible desire to unlock the world’s secrets mirror Goethe’s own passion for enquiry into natural phenomena. In old age, he even classed his scientific achievements as more valuable than his poetic ones. In his Theory of Colours he touched on a wide range of subjects, from physics to colour psychology, opening up an entirely new perspective on the essence of colour. He also devoted himself to optics and anatomy, biology and geology, archiving thousands of scientific specimens in jars and boxes. The slightly curved shape of the cap, which resembles an historic chemist’s glass jar, is a tribute to Goethe’s accomplishments as a scientist and collector. The clip in the shape of a leaf honours his studies in the field of morphology and specifically his proposition of an archetypal plant form. He even transposed this idea into verse in his didactic love poem The Metamorphosis of Plants. The inspiration for the overall design of this limited edition, in particular for the barrel and cone, is taken from the kind of historical writing instrument with which Goethe committed to paper all his knowledge, insights and the fruits of his seemingly boundless poetic imagination.
