Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Page 299
THE SPINNER.
THE SPIRIT’S SALUTE.
THE SPRING ORACLE.
THE STORK’S VOCATION.
THE SUBLIME TYPE.
THE SWISS ALPS.
THE TRAVELLER AND THE FARM-MAIDEN.
THE TREASURE-DIGGER.
THE TYPES.
THE UNEQUAL MARRIAGE.
THE UNLIMITED.
THE VIOLET.
THE VISIT.
THE WALKING BELL.
THE WANDERER.
THE WANDERER’S NIGHT-SONG.
THE WANDERER’S STORM-SONG.
THE WARNING.
THE WAY TO BEHAVE.
THE WEDDING NIGHT.
THE WEDDING.
THE WINTER AND TIMUR.
THE WRANGLER.
THE YELPERS.
THE YOUTH AND THE MILLSTREAM.
THOUGHTS ON JESUS CHRIST’S DESCENT INTO HELL.
THREATENING SIGNS.
THREE PALINODIAS.
TIMUR NAMEH.
TO A GOLDEN HEART THAT HE WORE ROUND HIS NECK.
TO BELINDA.
TO CHARLOTTE.
TO FATHER KRONOS.
TO HAFIS.
TO HIS COY ONE.
TO LIDA.
TO LINA.
TO LUNA.
TO MIGNON.
TO ORIGINALS.
TO SHAH SHEDSHAA AND HIS LIKE.
TO SULEIKA.
TO THE CHOSEN ONE.
TO THE DISTANT ONE.
TO THE HUSBANDMAN.
TO THE KIND READER.
TO THE MOON.
TO THE RISING FULL MOON.
TO WERTHER.
TRUE ENJOYMENT.
URANIA.
USCHK NAMEH.
VALEDICTION.
VANITAS! VANITATUM VANITAS!
VENICE, 1790.
WARNING.
WEDDING SONG.
WELCOME AND FAREWELL.
WHEN THE FOX DIES, HIS SKIN COUNTS.
WHO’LL BUY GODS OF LOVE?
WINTER JOURNEY OVER THE HARTZ MOUNTAINS.
WINTER.
WITH A GOLDEN NECKLACE.
WITH A PAINTED RIBBON.
WONT AND DONE.
The Non-Fiction
Christiane Vulpius, Goethe’s mistress and eventual wife; her ardent actions to protect Goethe when Napoleon’s soldiers stormed their house convinced Goethe to marry her after 18 years of living together.
THEORY OF COLOURS
Translated by Charles Lock Eastlake
This monumental non-fiction work concerns Goethe’s views on the nature of colours and how these are perceived. First published in 1810, the book contains some of the earliest printed descriptions of phenomena such as coloured shadows, refraction and chromatic aberration. Goethe was a keen artist, which in turn inspired him to explore the true nature of perceiving colour. This groundbreaking book went on to influence many artists, including J. M. W. Turner, the Pre-Raphaelites and the abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky.
In Theory of Colours, Goethe gives a general explanation of how colour is perceived in a variety of circumstances, considering Isaac Newton’s observations to be special cases. Goethe’s concern was not so much with the analytic measurement of colour phenomenon, as with the qualities of how phenomena are perceived. Philosophers have come to understand the distinction between the optical spectrum, as observed by Newton, and the phenomenon of human colour perception as presented by Goethe - a subject analysed at length by Wittgenstein in his exegesis of Goethe in Remarks on Colour.
In later years Goethe was to regard the work in conducted in creating Theory of Colours as even more important than the writing of Faust and his other literary masterpieces.
Goethe’s colour wheel, forming the basis of his theory
CONTENTS
DEDICATION
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
INTRODUCTION.
PART I. PHYSIOLOGICAL COLOURS.
I. Effects of Light and Darkness On the Eye.
II. Effects of Black and White Objects On the Eye.
III. Grey Surfaces and Objects.
IV. Dazzling Colourless Objects.
V. Coloured Objects.
VI. Coloured Shadows.
VII. Faint Lights.
VIII. Subjective Halos.
PATHOLOGICAL COLOURS: APPENDIX.
PART II. PHYSICAL COLOURS.
IX. Dioptrical Colours.
X. Dioptrical Colours of the First Class.
XI. Dioptrical Colours of the Second Class. — Refraction.
XII. Refraction Without the Appearance of Colour.
XIII. Conditions of the Appearance of Colour.
XIV. Conditions Under Which the Appearance of Colour Increases.
XV. Explanation of the Foregoing Phenomena.
XVI. Decrease of the Appearance of Colour.
XVII. Grey Objects Displaced By Refraction.
XVIII. Coloured Objects Displaced By Refraction.
XIX. Achromatism and Hyperchromatism.
XX. Advantages of Subjective Experiments.-Transition to the Objective.
XXI.Refraction Without the Appearance of Colour.
XXII.Conditions of the Appearance of Colour.
XXIII.Conditions of the Increase of Colour.
XXIV. Explanation of the Foregoing Phenomena.
XXV. Decrease of the Appearance of Colour.
XXVI.Grey Objects.
XXVII. Coloured Objects.
XXVIII. Achromatism and Hyperchromatism.
XXIX. Combination of Surjective and Orjective Experiments.
XXXX. Transition.
XXXI. Catoptrical Colours.
XXXII. Paroptical Colours.
XXXIII. Epoptical Colours.
PART III. CHEMICAL COLOURS.
XXXIV. Chemical Contrast.
XXXV. White.
XXXVI. Black.
XXXVII. First Excitation of Colour.
XXXVIII. Augmentation of Colour.
XXXIX. Culmination.
XL. Fluctuation.
XLI.Passage Through the Whole Scale.
XLII. Inversion.
XLIII. Fixation.
XLIV. Intermixture, Real.
XLV. Intermixture, Apparent.
XLVI. Communication, Actual.
XLVII. Communication, Apparent.
XLVIII. Extraction.
XLIX. Nomenclature.
L. Minerals.
LI. Plants.
LII. Worms, Insects, Fishes.
LIII. Birds.
LIV. Mammalia and Human Beings.
LV. Physical and Chemical Effects of the Transmission of Light Through Coloured Mediums.
LVI. Chemical Effect in Dioptrical Achromatism.
PART IV. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
Combination of the Two Principles.
Augmentation to Red.
Junction of the Two Augmented Extremes.
Completeness the Result of Variety in Colour.
Harmony of the Complete State.
Facility With Which Colour May Be Made to Tend Either to the Plus or Minus Side.
Evanescence of Colour.
Permanance of Colour.
PART V. RELATION TO OTHER PURSUITS
Relation to Philosophy.
Relation to Mathematics.
Relation to the Technical Operations of the Dyer.
Relation to Physiology and Pathology.
Relation to Natural History.
Relation to General Physics.
Relation to the Theory of Music.
Concluding Observations On Terminology.
PART VI. EFFECT OF COLOUR WITH REFERENCE TO MORAL ASSOCIATIONS.
Yellow.
Red-Yellow.
Yellow-Red.
Blue.
Red-Blue.
Blue-Red.
Red.
Green.
Completeness and Harmony.
Characteristic Combinations.
Yellow and Blue.
Yellow and Red.
Blue and Red.
Yellow-Red and Blue-Red.
Combinations Non-Characteristic.
Relation of the Combinations to Light and Dark.
Considerations Derived From the Evidence of Experience and History.
Aesthetic Influence.
Chiaro-Scuro.
Tendency to Colour.
Keeping.
Colouring.
Colour in General Nature.
Colour of Particular Objects.
Characteristic Colouring.
Harmonious Colouring.
Genuine Tone.
False Tone.
Weak Colouring.
The Motley.
Dread of Theory.
Ultimate Aim.
Grounds.
Pigments.
Allegorical, Symbolical, Mystical Application of Colour.
Concluding Observations.
NOTES.
Note A. — Par. 18.
Note B. — Par. 23.
Note C. — Par. 50.
Note D. — Par. 66.
Note E — Par. 69.
Note F. — Par. 88.
Note G. — Par. 98.
Note H. — Par. 113.
Note I. — Par. 135.
Note K. — Par. 140.
Note L. — Par. 150.
Note M. — Par. 177.
Note N. — Par. 246.
Note O. — Par. 252.
Note P. — Par. 284.
Note Q. — Par. 387.
Note R. — Par. 478.
Note S. — Par. 485.
Note T. — Par. 496.
Note U. — Par. 502.
Note V. — Par. 555.
Note W. — Par. 608.
Note X. — Par. 670.
Note Y. — Par. 672.
Note Z. — Par. 690.
Note AA. — Par. 732.
Note BB. — Par. 748.
Note CC. — Par. 758.
Note DD. — Par. 849.
Note EE. — Par. 855.
Note FF. — Par. 859.
Note GG. — Par. 863.
Note HH. — Par. 865.
Note II. — Par. 902.
Note KK. — Par. 903.
Note LL. — Par. 919.
DEDICATION
TO
JEREMIAH HARMAN, ESQ.
Dear Sir,
I dedicate to you the following translation as a testimony of my sincere gratitude and respect; in doing so, I but follow the example of Portius, an Italian writer, who inscribed his translation of Aristotle’s Treatise on Colours to one of the Medici.
I have the honour to be,
Dear Sir
Your most obliged and obedient Servant,
C. L. Eastlake.
Main contents table link
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE
English writers who have spoken of Goethe’s Doctrine of Colours, have generally confined their remarks to those parts of the work in which he has undertaken to account for the colours of the prismatic spectrum, and of refraction altogether, on principles different from the received theory of Newton. The less questionable merits of the treatise consisting of a well-arranged mass of observations and experiments, many of which are important and interesting, have thus been in a great measure overlooked. The translator, aware of the opposition which the theoretical views alluded to have met with, intended at first to make a selection of such of the experiments as seem more directly applicable to the theory and practice of painting. Finding, however, that the alterations this would have involved would have been incompatible with a clear and connected view of the author’s statements, he preferred giving the theory itself entire, reflecting, at the same time, that some scientific readers may be curious to hear the author speak for himself even on the points at issue.
In reviewing the history and progress of his opinions and researches, Goethe tells us that he first submitted his views to the public in two short essays entitled Contributions to Optics. Among the circumstances which he supposes were unfavourable to him on that occasion, he mentions the choice of his title, observing that by a reference to optics he must have appeared to make pretensions to a knowledge of mathematics, a science with which he admits be was very imperfectly acquainted. Another cause to which he attributes the severe treatment he experienced, was his having ventured so openly to question the truth of the established theory: but this last provocation could not be owing to mere inadvertence on his part; indeed the larger work, in which he alludes to these circumstances, is still more remarkable for the violence of his objections to the Newtonian doctrine.
There can be no doubt, however, that much of the opposition Goethe met with was to be attributed to the manner as well as to the substance of his statements. Had he contented himself with merely detailing his experiments and showing their application to the laws of chromatic harmony, leaving it to others to reconcile them as they could with the pre-established system, or even to doubt in consequence, the truth of some of the Newtonian conclusions, he would have enjoyed the credit he deserved for the accuracy and the utility of his investigations. As it was, the uncompromising expression of his convictions only exposed him to the resentment or silent neglect of a great portion of the scientific world, so that for a time he could not even obtain a fair hearing for the less objectionable or rather highly valuable communications contained in his book. A specimen of this manner of alluding to the Newtonian theory will be seen in the preface.
It was quite natural that this spirit should call forth a somewhat vindictive feeling, and with it not a little uncandid as well as unsparing criticism. The Doctrine of Colours met with this reception in Germany long before it was noticed in England, where a milder and. fairer treatment could hardly be expected, especially at a time when, owing perhaps to the limited intercourse with the continent, German literature was far less popular than it is at present. This last fact, it is true, can be of little importance in the present instance, for although the change of opinion with regard to the genius of an enlightened nation must be acknowledged to be beneficial, it is to be hoped there is no fashion in science, and the translator begs to state once for all, that in advocating the neglected merits of the Doctrine, of Colours, he is far from undertaking to defend its imputed errors. Sufficient time has, however, now elapsed since the publication of this work (in 1810) to allow a calmer and more candid examination of its claims. In this more pleasing task Germany has again for some time led the way, and many scientific investigators have followed up the hints and observations of Goethe with a due acknowledgment of the acuteness of his views.
It may require more magnanimity in English scientific readers to do justice to the merits of one who was so open and, in many respects, it is believed, so mistaken an opponent of Newton; but it must be admitted that the statements of Goethe contain more useful principles in all that relates to harmony of colour than any that have been derived from the established doctrine. It is no derogation of the more important truths of the Newtonian theory to say, that the views it contains seldom appear in a form calculated for direct application to the arts. The principle of contrast, so universally exhibited in nature, so apparent in the action and re-action of the eye itself, is scarcely hinted at. The equal pretensions of seven colours, as such, and the fanciful analogies which their assumed proportions could suggest, have rarely found favour with the votaries of taste,-indeed they have long been abandoned even by scientific authorities. And here the translator stops: he is quite aware that the defects which make the Newtonian theory so little available for esthetic application, are far from invalidating its more important conclusions in the opinion of most scientific men. In carefully abstaining therefore from any comparison between the two theories in these latter respects, he may still be permitted to advocate the clearness and fulness of Goethe’s experiments. The German philosopher reduces the colours to their origin and simplest elements; he sees and constantly bears in mind, and sometimes ably elucidates, the phen
omena of contrast and gradation, two principles which may be said to make up the artist’s world, and to constitute the chief elements of beauty. These hints occur mostly in what may be called the scientific part of the work.. On the other hand, in the portion expressly devoted to the esthetic application of the doctrine, the author seems to have made but an inadequate use of his own principles.
In that part of the chapter on chemical colours which relates to the colours of plants and animals, the same genius and originality which are displayed in the Essays on Morphology, and which have secured to Goethe undisputed rank among the investigators of nature, are frequently apparent.
But one of the most interesting features of Goethe’s theory, although it cannot be a recommendation in a scientific point of view, is, that it contains, undoubtedly with very great improvements, the general doctrine of the ancients and of the Italians at the revival of letters. The translator has endeavoured, in some notes, to point out the connexion between this theory and the practice of the Italian painters.
The Doctrine of Colours, as first published in 1810, consists of two volumes in 8vo., and sixteen plates, with descriptions, in 4to. It is divided into three parts, a didactic, a controversial, and an historical part; the present translation is confined to the first of these, with such extracts from the other two as seemed necessary, in fairness to the author, to explain some of his statements. The polemical and historical parts are frequently alluded to in the preface and elsewhere in the present work, but it has not been thought advisable to omit these allusions. No alterations whatever seem to have been made by Goethe in the didactic portion in later editions, but he subsequently wrote an additional chapter on entoptic colours, expressing his wish that it might be inserted in the theory itself at a particular place which he points out. The form of this additional essay is, however, very different from that of the rest of the work, and the translator has therefore merely given some extracts from it in the appendix. The polemical portion has been more than once omitted in later editions.
In the two first parts the author’s statements are arranged numerically, in the style of Bacon’s Natural History. This, we are told, was for the convenience of reference; but many passages are thus separately numbered which hardly seem to have required it. The same arrangement is, however, strictly followed in the translation to facilitate a comparison with the original where it may be desired; and here the translator observes, that although he has sometimes permitted himself to make slight alterations, in order to avoid unnecessary repetition, or to make the author’s meaning clearer, he feels that an apology may rather be expected from him for having omitted so little. He was scrupulous on this point, having once determined to translate the whole treatise, partly, as before stated, from a wish to deal fairly with a controversial writer, and partly because many passages, not directly bearing on the scientific views, are still characteristic of Goethe. The observations which the translator has ventured to add are inserted in the appendix: these observations are chiefly confined to such of the author’s opinions and conclusions as have direct reference to the arts; they seldom interfere with the scientific propositions, even where these have been considered most vulnerable.