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Otto Eiser.
Ca. before 1892.
Colorized and enhanced image The Nietzsche Channel.

Naumburg, [Early January 1880]:
Letter to Otto Eiser.1

Dear Doctor,

Since the last [eye] examination, my vision has again deteriorated significantly.

1. Otto Eiser (1834-1898): Frankfurt doctor, and admirer of Nietzsche and Richard Wagner. He examined Nietzsche in October 1877, and disclosed to him a letter from Richard Wagner opining on the cause of Nietzsche's poor health — namely, masturbation. According to a friend of Eiser, Eiser admitted that this was the real cause of Nietzsche's break with Wagner. See Sander L. Gilman, "Otto Eiser and Nietzsche's Illness: A Hitherto Unpublished Text." In: Nietzsche Studien (2009) 38:396-409. Dr. Eugen Kretzer. "Erinnerungen an Dr. Otto Eiser." (Memories of Dr. Otto Eiser.) Ca. 1912. Excerpt: "Auf meine Veranlassung hat die Witwe Dr. Eisers einem der Briefe Richard Wagners an ihren verstorbenen Gatten besondere Fürsorge zugewendet. Den Inhalt dieses Briefes kennt, wie sie mir sagte, außer mir nur Hr Geheimrat Dr. Henry Thode, sonst niemand. Sie hat ihn dem Hause Wahnfried übersandt, und dort ist und bleibt er fortan deponiert. Ich billige das durchaus. Er sollte der Öffentlichkeit stets vorenthalten werden. Richard Wagner schrieb diesen Brief, als er erfuhr, daß Dr. Eiser seinen jungen Freund kennen gelernt hatte und ärztlich beriet. In treu besorgter, wahrhaft väterlicher Weise teilt er darin dem gemeinsamen ärztlichen Freund seine Hypothese über die Ursache von Nietzsches Erkrankung mit. 'Warum Nietzsche von Wagners abfiel?,' meinte Eiser einst: – 'ich weiß es allein, denn in meinem Hause, in meiner Stube hat sich dieser Abfall vollzogen, als ich Nietzsche jenen Brief in wohlmeinendster Absicht mitteilte. Ein Ausbruch von Raserei war die Folge, Nietzsche war außer sich: – die Worte sind nicht wiederzugeben, die er für Wagner fand. – Seitdem war der Bruch besiegelt.'" (At my instigation, Dr. [Otto] Eiser's widow took special care of one of Richard Wagner's letters to her deceased husband. As she told me, "The contents of this letter are known only to me, privy councilor Dr. Henry Thode, no one else." She sent it to the Wahnfried house [Wagner's villa in Bayreuth], and it is and will be deposited there from now on. I absolutely approve of that. It should always be withheld from the public. Richard Wagner wrote this letter when he learned that Dr. Eiser had met his young friend [Nietzsche] and gave him medical advice. In a faithful, truly fatherly way, he shares his hypothesis about the cause [i.e., masturbation] of Nietzsche's illness with his mutual medical friend. "Why did Nietzsche break away from Wagner?" Eiser once said: – "I alone know, because this break took place in my house, in my [examining] room, when I informed Nietzsche about that letter with the best of intentions. The result was an outbreak of rage, Nietzsche was beside himself: – the words that he found for Wagner cannot be repeated. – At that moment the break was sealed.")
2. Nietzsche thanks Eisner for a 12-31-1879 letter wishing Nietzsche a happy New Year.
3. See Nietzsche's 05-02-1879 letter of resignation to Carl Burckhardt. German; English.
4. Nietzsche's travels took him to Italy: Bolzano, Riva Del Garda, and Venice. Paul Rée, unbeknownst to Nietzsche, sent money to Heinrich Köselitz in order to go to Riva to assist Nietzsche.
5. The friend was Heinrich Köselitz, who was one of the few people who could decipher Nietzsche's handwriting.
6. Der Wanderer und sein Schatten (The Wanderer and His Shadow), published on December 18, 1879.
7. In Eisner's 12-31-1879 letter, he passed along the greetings of his wife.

Naumburg, January 14, 1880:
Letter to Malwida von Meysenbug.

Although writing is one of the most forbidden fruits for me,1 you, whom I love and esteem like an older sister, must nevertheless have a letter from me — but it will probably be the last! For the terrible and almost unremitting martyrdom of my life makes me thirst after the end,2 and, according to a few symptoms, the stroke to provide relief is close enough to grant me hope. As far as torture and renunciation are concerned, the recent years of my life can measure up to that of any ascetic of any era; nevertheless, in these years I have gained a lot for purifying and polishing the soul — and I no longer need either religion or art for this purpose. (You will notice that I am proud of this; in fact, complete abandonment [of everything] first allowed me to discover my own resources[.]) I believe that I have done my life's work, admittedly like someone who was not given time. But I know that I have poured out a drop of good oil for many and that I have given many a hint for self-elevation, peaceableness and a right mind. I will write this to you afterwards, it should actually be pronounced at the completion of my "humanity."3 No pain has or should be able to seduce me into false testimony about life, [life] as I know it.

Friedrich Nietzsche.

1. A result of Nietzsche's poor eyesight.
2. Nietzsche, like any hypochondriac, was in the habit of hyperbolizing his symptoms to the dismay of Meysenbug. E.g., see her 06-03-1877 letter to Augusta von Stein-Rebecchini: "Teure Freundin, ehe ich Sorrent verlasse, muß ich Ihnen einen Scheidegruß senden. Ich hätte eher geschrieben, allein Sie kennen die alte betrübte Ursache. Seit vier Wochen bin ich hier ganz allein, denn Nietzsche hatte wieder einen so starken Rückfall und meinte nun, das Klima nicht mehr vertragen zu können, daß er plötzlich aufbrach und nach Ragaz ging, wo er nun die Kur gebraucht." (Dear friend, before I leave Sorrento, I must send you a last farewell. I would have written sooner, only you know the old sad cause. I've been here all alone for four weeks, because Nietzsche had such a severe relapse again and now thought he could no longer stand the climate that he suddenly set off and went to Ragaz, where he is now taking a treatment.)
3. A reference to Der Wanderer und sein Schatten (The Wanderer and His Shadow), published on December 18, 1879.
4. Coincidentally, Richard Wagner had asked about Nietzsche in a 10-19-1879 letter to Franz Overbeck: "Daß ich aber so gänzlich davon ausgeschlossen sein soll, an Nietzsches Leben und Nöten teilzunehmen, betrübt mich. Würde ich unbescheiden sein, wenn ich Sie herzlich ersuchte, mir einige Nachricht über unseren Freund zukommen zu lassen?" (But I am saddened that I should be so completely excluded from participating in Nietzsche's life and needs. Would I be immodest if I kindly asked you to send me some news about our friend?).
5. At the same time that he was asking about Nietzsche, Wagner was indirectly attacking him in the Bayreuther Blätter (Okt. 1879, 310).

Leipzig, January 19, 1880:
Letter from Erich Koschny.1

Dear Herr Professor!

Delighted that the views of the author of "The Right to Live etc"2 have met with your approval, and I have the honor to give you the exact address you requested of the same:
Josef Popper, Vienna VII., Apollogasse 4 B.3

With my best wishes
Respectfully
Erich Koschny
(L. Heimanns Verlag)

1. Erich Koschny, German publisher in Leipzig, replying to an unknown letter from Nietzsche.
2. Josef Popper-Lynkeus (1838-1921), Das Recht zu leben und die Pflicht zu sterben: socialphilosophische Betrachtungen, anknüpfend an die Bedeutung Voltaire's für die neuere Zeit. Leipzig: Koschny, 1879. CONTENTS: Würdigung Voltaire (1-51). Das Bedürfniss nach Religion und Metaphysik (52-66). Das Recht zu leben (67-96). Der Trieb zu Verbrechen und Strafen (97-126). Die pflicht zu sterben (127-137). Schluss (138). For more information on the contents, see Thomas H. Brobjer, Nietzsche's Philosophical Context. An Intellectual Biography. Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 2010, 152f.
3. It seems that Nietzsche learned of Popper's book by reading an 1880 issue of a philosophical journal published by Koschny. See Philosophische Monatshefte. Bd. 16. Leipzig: Koschny, 1880, 125: "Bibliographie von Dr. F. Ascherson. [....] VIII. Zur Ethik, Rechtsphilosophie und Culturgeschichte. [....] Popper, J., das Recht zu leben und die Pflicht zu sterben. Socialphilosophische Betrachtungen, anknüpfend an die Bedeutung Voltaire's für die neuere Zeit. 2. Aufl. [....]"

Part of the park at the Hotel du Lac in Riva.
By: Alois Beer.1
From b/w picture postcard, 1890.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

Riva, February 14, 1880:
Postcard to Elisabeth Nietzsche.

Beloved sister

Arrived in Riva yesterday.2 I was ill in Bolzano for 2 days. Cloudy today. I live in an evergreen garden bordering the lake, away from the city.

Addr.: Hôtel du lac
Riva, South Tyrol

Best regards to the occupants of the hospitable house.3

All the best to yourself.

F N.

1. Alois Beer (1840-1916): Austrian photographer. The famous and prolific Beer was the uncle of the Nietzschephile artist, Alfred Kubin (1877-1959).
2. Nietzsche stayed in Riva from 02-13-1880 to 03-14-1880. He then went to Venice.
3. Elisabeth Nietzsche was staying in Basel with Berta Rohr and her father. Berta Rohr (1848-1940) was also a friend of Malwida von Meysenbug. Nietzsche met her in 1873. She was a former marriage prospect.

Franziska Nietzsche.
By: Jakob Höflinger, Basel.
From b/w photo, ca. 1869.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

Riva, February 14, 1880:
Postcard to Franziska Nietzsche.

So I am in Riva,1 weather cloudy so far, rain today. Garden. The rocky trail meets my expectations.

Constantly not well. — Please send me immediately the thin overcoat and the gray trousers and a nightgown. Do not send suitcase! Keep the warm blanket. Very well heated. In my small establishment, my eyes give me a lot of trouble. Wrote to Lisb[eth].2 Bolzano was not much different from Naumb[urg]. I left sick as ever.

Gratefully mindful of your care
my good mother!

Addr: Riva (South Tyrol) Hôtel du lac

1. Nietzsche stayed in Riva from 02-13-1880 to 03-14-1880. He then went to Venice.
2. See Riva, 02-14-1880: Letter to Elisabeth Nietzsche.

Riva.
1880.
From b/w picture postcard.
© Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Goethe- und Schiller-Archiv.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

Riva, March 13, 1880:
Picture postcard to Franziska and Elisabeth Nietzsche.

March 13, 1880

Departing Riva.1

Your Fritz.
With the fondest regards.2

1. Nietzsche was on his way to Venice.
2. Written on the back of the picture postcard. See GSA 71/BW 293,22.

[Venice, March 27, 1880]:
Postcard to Franziska and Elisabeth Nietzsche.

Today I move into the new apartment,1 located in such a way that I can take a long walk in the shade along the bank (approx. 20 minutes) and look out over the sea from the window (I was too depressed in the city2). My room is 22 feet high, 22 feet wide and 23 feet long, with beautiful marble, a grand staircase leads to it, and at the same time oddly plain. It is my discovery. Send me the chest right away and put the following books in it: Spencer (Data of Ethics);3 Baumann (Ethics);4 Martensen (Ethics);5 then Stendhal, 2 vol.;6 Gsell Fels Southern France;7 the little book about the Greek islands,8 dear Lisbeth; then the thick volume about Byron9 (in the Köselitziana, which I left in Basel; send me the list10 of them too); gloves, towels, a glass and plate and egg cups, etc.). Not yet recovered from a bad attack. — Visited Lido because of the sea baths in summer: good! Thank you very much for your letter.

Please! A full can of ground coffee.! and Maizena. Day before Easter. — Köselitz's address.

1. The current address of his apartment: Calle Berlendis, 6294 30121 Venezia Italy.
2. Heinrich Köselitz had initially found him a place near St. Mark's Square, which was too noisy.
3. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), Die Thatsachen der Ethik. Stuttgart: Schweizerbart, 1879. See the entry for Spencer in Nietzsche's Library.
4. Johann Julius Baumann (1837-1916), Handbuch der Moralnebst Abriss der Rechtsphilosophie. Leipzig: Hirzel, 1879. See the entry for Baumann in Nietzsche's Library.
5. Hans Martensen (1808-1884), Die christliche Ethik. Bd. 1. Allgemeiner Theil. Gotha: Besser, 1873. See the entry for Martensen in Nietzsche's Library.
6. Stendhal (Henri Beyle, 1783-1842), Rome, Naples et Florence. Paris: Lévy, 1854; Promenades dans Rome. Paris: Michel Lévyfrères, 1853. See the entry for Stendhal in Nietzsche's Library.
7. Theodor Gsell-Fels (1818-1898), Süd-Frankreich, nebst den Kurorten der Riviera di Ponente, Corsica und Algier. Leipzig: Bibliographisches Institut, 1878. See the entry for Misc./Maps/Guidebooks in Nietzsche's Library. Nietzsche acquired the term "Gaya Scienza" from Gsell-Fels' book. See pp. 312-313; 316. "Die Provençalen hatten die ersten dichterischen Anregungen und Formen aus den arabischen Reichen Spaniens erhalten, und mit ihrer eigenen Heldenlust und Liebeswonne vermählt. Die von den französischen Rittern Besiegten lebten als Sieger in der poetischen Kultur der 'Gaya Scienza' in der Provence fort. Die Poesie wurde hier zum geistigen Turnier und das ganze Volk nahm an ihr theil. Die Urheber dieser erfinderischen Dichtkunst (art de trobar) erhielten den Namen Troubadours (Erfinder), pflegten wie ihre orientalischen Vorgänger hauptsächlich die Lyrik, das Liebeslied, das Lehrgedicht und die Satire, und sangen in ihren Canzoni bald Morgenlieder (Albas), Abendlieder (Serenas) Strophen der Freude (Soulas) und des Leids (Lais), Sonette (mit Instrumenten begleitet), Balladen (mit Tanz), bald Streitgedichte (Tenzoni) und Lob- und Rügelieder (Sirventes). Die Sirventes erhielten für die Provence die höhere Bedeutung, dem socialen und politischen Leben einen freimüthigen, feurigen Aufschwung geben, und die Gebrechen der Kirche zu bekämpfen […] So haben die zahlreichen Troubadours der Provence die Gaya Scienza zu einem leidenschaftlichen, freiheitsglühenden, prophetischen und dann wieder schwermüthigen, liebedurstigen Gesang erhoben, ein Abbild des ganzen Landes." (The Provençals had received the first poetic ideas and forms from the Moorish empires of Spain, and wed them with their own heroic desires and joys of love. Those defeated by the French knights lived on as victors in the poetic culture of the "Gaya Scienza" in Provence. Here poetry became a spiritual tournament and the whole people took part in it. The creators of this inventive poetry (art of trobar) were given the name troubadours (innovators), and like their oriental predecessors, they mainly used lyricism, love songs, didactic poems and satire, and in their canzoni they first sang morning songs (Albas), evening songs (Serenas), stanzas of joy (Soulas) and of suffering (Lais), sonnets (accompanied by instruments), ballads (with dance), then poems of dispute (Tenzoni) and songs of praise and rebuke (Sirventes). The Sirventes were given the greater importance for Provence, to give the social and political life an outspoken, fiery impetus, and to combat the deficiency of the Church [...] Thus the numerous troubadours of Provence exalted the Gaya Scienza to a passionate, freedom-ardent, prophetic and then again plaintive, love-thirsty singing, a reflection of the entire country.) For further information, see Giuliano Campioni, "'Gaya scienza' e 'gai saber' nella filosofia di Nietzsche" (PDF); Giuliano Campioni, "Nachweis aus Theodor Gsell-Fels, Süd-Frankreich, nebst den Kurorten der Riviera di Ponente, Corsica und Algier (1878)." In: Nietzsche Studien (2009), Bd. 38, 327.
8. Unknown book.
9. George Gordon Lord Byron (1788-1824), Ernst Ortlepp (trans. 1800-1864), Vermischte Schriften, Briefwechsel und Lebensgeschichte nach Lytton Bulwer, Thomas Moore, Medwin und Dallas von Ernst Ortlepp. Bde. 1-3. Stuttgart: J. Scheible, n. d.
10. A list of his books compiled by Ida Overbeck.

[Venice, April 11, 1880]:
Postcard to Franz Overbeck.

The valuable letter1 came into my hands finally and cheaply [10 ct.], many thanks! Dear friend, we've had rainy weather and scirocco for weeks. — My apartment is 22 feet high and quiet, like the end of the world.2 I think with great pleasure of St. B[euve] becoming German.3 (If you want a comical travesty of his style, then read Balzac,4 les caprices de Claudine.) Do you perhaps know where my Stendhal5 volumes are? You wrote to me once about a list of books.6 Please subscribe for me to the weekly list of new books in the Festersen's bookstore that was sent to me before.7 But I always want to have a quarterly, thus the first volume of this year. Kös[elitz]'s address.8 K[öselitz] advises that he has a lot to do, we see each other just in the evening, he reads aloud from Stifter.9

Your Fr N.

1. Overbeck sent Nietzsche his pension.
2. The current address of his apartment: Calle Berlendis, 6294 30121 Venezia Italy. He first described it and Venice to Overbeck in a 03-17-1880 postcard: "Heute beziehe ich ein von mir gefundenes Logis, nach meinen Bedürfnissen nicht in den engen Lagunen gelegen, sondern frei wie am Meere, mit dem Blick auf die Todteninsel. V[enedig] hat das beste Straßenpflaster und Schatten wie ein Wald: dabei keinen Staub. Das Wetter hell." (Today I move into lodgings that I have found, according to my needs, not located in the narrow lagoons, but unobstructed since by the sea, with a view of the Isle of the Dead [San Michele, the island graveyard of Venice]. V[enice] has the best pavement and shade like a forest: no dust. The weather is bright.) For more on Nietzsche and Köselitz in Venice, see Frederick R. Love, "Nietzsche's Saint Peter. Genesis and Cultivation of an Illusion." Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1981.
3. Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804-1869): French writer. Ida Overbeck was the anonymous translator of: Menschen des XVIII. Jahrhunderts nach den Causeries du lundi von Sainte-Beuve. Chemnitz: Schmeitzner, 1880. See the entry for Sainte-Beuve in Nietzsche's Library.
4. Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), Un prince de la bohème. In: Oeuvres complètes XI. Paris: Lévy, 1879, 21. See the entry for Balzac in Nietzsche's Library.
5. Stendhal (Henri Beyle, 1783-1842), Rome, Naples et Florence. Paris: Lévy, 1854; Promenades dans Rome. Paris: Michel Lévyfrères, 1853. See the entry for Stendhal in Nietzsche's Library.
6. Th. Lissner (Hrsg.), Allgemeiner Litterarischer Wochen-Bericht über alle empfehlenswerten Neuigkeiten des In- und Auslandes nebst litterarischen Notizen und Mitteilungen. Leipzig: Denicke. [Bd. 8. 1880, Hefte 1-52, Jan. 1-Dez. 20.]
7. G. & F. Festersen, a bookstore in Basel that was sold to Louis Jenke on 10-01-1878. In the GSA, there are several receipts from the bookstore for books that Nietzsche purchased.
8. San Canciano, calle nuova 5256, Venice.
9. Adalbert Stifter (1805-1868), Der Nachsommer. Eine Erzählung. Bde. 1-3. Leipzig: C. F. Amelang, 1857. See the entry for Stifter in Nietzsche's Library.

[Venice, April 28, 1880]:
Postcard to Franz Overbeck.

The correct title of the recently mentioned book by Balzac is un prince de la Bohême.1 I found [something] very noteworthy about St. Beuve in George Sand, Histoire de ma vie, 6^th chapter of the last part [cinquième partie].2

F. N

1. Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), Un prince de la bohème. In: Oeuvres complètes XI. Paris: Lévy, 1879, 21. See the entry for Balzac in Nietzsche's Library.
2. George Sand (1804-1876), Histoire de ma vie. Tome neuvième. Paris: Lévy, 1856, 204f. See the entry for Sand in Nietzsche's Library.
3. In his 04-11-1880 letter to Franz Overbeck, (see footnotes 6 and 7), Nietzsche asked for an issue of recent publishing notices. Moreover, in his 04-21-1880 postcard to his mother and sister, Nietzsche asked Elisabeth to keep an eye out for interesting books. "Wenn Du, meine liebe Schwester, beim Lesen der Revue des deux mondes ein Buch sehr empfohlen findest (historisch oder philosophisch), so schreib es mir, ich werde sehr dankbar sein. (If you, my dear sister, while reading the Revue des Deux Mondes find a highly recommended book (historical or philosophical), then write to me about it, I will be very grateful.)
4. In 1878, there were 20 bookstores in Zürich. It's not certain to which one Nietzsche was referring, although it may have been Volksbuchhandlung, Zeltweg 35 in Hottingen. See Adressbuch der Stadt Zürich und der Ausgemeinden für 1878. Zürich: Orell Füssli, 1878, 254. In his 05-09-1880 letter to Heinrich Köselitz, Overbeck writes: "Grüssen Sie N. aufs herzlichste. Die von ihm gewünschte Adresse der Züricher Buchhandlung kann ich ihm noch nicht geben." (Give N[ietzsche] my warmest regards. I can't yet give him the address he wants for the Zurich bookstore.)

Ida Overbeck.
From b/w photo, ca. 1875.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

Venice, May 24, 1880:
Letter to Ida Overbeck.

Dear revered Frau Professor, Thank you very much — but I did have a bit of remorse: it seemed to me that I should have prevented in every way such an act of kindness by you,1 and I did nothing!

Don't believe George Sand about Venice7 (the best part of it is tranquillity and beautiful pavement)

1. She translated an essay by Paul Albert (1827-1880), "Les consolateurs." In: Variétés morales et littéraires. Paris: Hachette, 1879, 1-63. See the entry for Albert in Nietzsche's Library.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid., p. 41.
4. Nietzsche is referring to Seneca's death after Nero condemned him to death by suicide. Seneca's wife, Pompeia Paulina, decided to commit suicide as well, to which Seneca replied that he did not begrudge her setting such a fine example, and that they both would die with equal fortitude, although her death would be nobler. Besides accounts about Seneca and his wife from Tacitus, Nietzsche was familiar with the one by Montaigne (1533-1592). See Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Essais. Avec des notes de tous les commenteurs. Paris: Didot, 1864, 386. See the entry for Montaigne in Nietzsche's Library.
5. See 05-09-1880 letter from her husband Franz Overbeck to Heinrich Köselitz. We can only surmise that Köselitz read to Nietzsche Overbeck's letter, part of which refers to Schmeitzner's anti-Semitic publications: "Wenigstens von den antisemitischen Blättern habe ich mit sehr geringer Freude gehört, es auch Hrn Schmeitzner geschrieben und keinen mich für die Sache mehr einnehmenden Bescheid darauf erhalten. Worüber man sich bei Juden zu beschweren hat und was an ihnen in der Regel widrig ist darüber wird man unter Nichtjuden und auch unter Deutschen leicht einverstanden sein, doch scheint mir in dem ganzen jetzigen öffentlichen Treiben in Deutschland des Blinden, Gedankenlosen Unbesonnenen und Beschränkten genug zu sein, dass es durch eine auf den blindesten Trieben beruhende Agitation noch vermehrt werden dürfte." (I heard about a few of the anti-Semitic papers with very little pleasure, I also wrote about it to Mr. Schmeitzner and did not receive any information on the matter that was more appealing to me. What one has to complain about with Jews and what is generally uncomfortable about them will be easily agreed upon among non-Jews and also among Germans, but it seems to me that there is enough of what is blind, thoughtless, reckless and imbecilic in all the current public activity in Germany that might be increased by agitation based on the blindest instincts.) In a series called Antisemitische Hefte (Anti-Semitic Pamphlets), Schmeitzner began reprinting the reprehensible writings of the anti-Semitic agitator, Wilhelm Marr (1819-1904). The series only lasted for one year with three issues: Wilhelm Marr, Der Judenkrieg, seine Fehler und wie er zu organisieren ist. "Der Verkauf findet zum besten des antisemitischen Agitationsfonds statt." Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1880. Aus: Der Sieg des Judentums über das Germanenthum. - [1879] Series: Antisemitische Hefte Nr. 1; Wilhelm Marr, Goldene Ratten und rothe Mäuse. "Der Verkauf findet zum besten des antisemitischen Agitationsfonds statt." Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1880. Series: Antisemitische Hefte Nr. 2; Wilhelm Marr, Oeffnet die Augen, Ihr deutschen Zeitungsleser. Ein unentbehrliches Büchlein für jeden deutschen Zeitungsleser. "Der Verkauf findet zum besten des antisemitischen Agitationsfonds statt." Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1880. Series: Antisemitische Hefte Nr. 3.
6. See 05-12-1880 letter from Heinrich Köselitz to Franz Overbeck. "Was uns ganz neu war, das ist die Nachricht vom Erscheinen-wollen "Antisemitischer Blätter" im Schmeitznerschen Verlage. Wie gesagt, ich erfuhr das erste Wort von Ihnen über diese Sache, und begreife jetzt recht gut, dass seit jenem Briefe, in welchem mir Schmeitzner mittheilte, er betheilige sich stark an der antisemitischen Agitation, mit welcher Mittheilung er wahrscheinlich eine eingehendere Verständigung einleiten wollte, er mir Nichts mehr über diese Angelegenheit gesagt hat; ich hatte ihm nämlich darauf unumwunden geantwortet 'ob er sich denn nicht vor mir schäme'? — Nietzsche gab Ihren Gedanken vollständigen Beifall; im Übrigen aber, meinte er, lasse er sich mit dem Thema über die Juden jetzt nicht ein; er habe es zu seiner geistigen Gesundheit nöthig, sich hier, wie in einigen andern Dingen (z. B. den bayreuthischen, den christlichen) eine strenge Diät aufzuerlegen, seinen Kopf diesen Dingen fremd werden zu lassen, damit er eine gewisse Distanz für sie gewinne." (What was completely new to us [Köselitz and Nietzsche] was the news that "Anti-Semitic Papers' would appear in Schmeitzner's publishing house. As I said, I heard the first word about this matter from you, and I now understand quite well that since that letter in which Schmeitzner informed me that he was heavily involved in anti-Semitic agitation, with which communication he probably wanted to initiate a more thorough understanding, he said nothing more to me about this matter; I had of course replied frankly to him, "Whether he wasn't ashamed of himself"? — Nietzsche completely approved of your sentiments; but apart from that, he said he was not getting involved with the subject of the Jews; he had to impose a strict diet on himself here for his mental health, as well as some other things (e.g. the Bayreuthian, the Christian), to let his mind become alien to these things, so that he could keep a certain distance from them.) In later correspondence between Schmeitzner and Köselitz, Schmeitzner objected to Köselitz calling the anti-Semitic movement "imbecilic race hatred" — parroting Franz Overbeck's description, i.e., "blind, thoughtless, reckless and imbecilic" (see footnote 4). Excerpt from Chemnitz, 10-22-1881, letter from Ernst Schmeitzner to Heinrich Köselitz in Venice: "Ei, ei, Sie böser Herr, wie können Sie nur gleich von 'imbeciler Rassenanfeindung' reden! Was für Ungeheuer von deutschen Zeitungen müssen Sie denn da lesen, daß Ihnen so etwas aus Deutschland erzählt wird. Ist kein Wort davon wahr; man spricht bei uns nur davon ob wir uns vor dem totalen materiellen und moralischen Ruin schützen dürfen!" (Well, well, you wicked sir, how can you speak of "imbecilic racial hostility"! What monsters of German newspapers have you been reading that told you something like that from Germany. Not a word of it is true; we only talk amongst ourselves about whether we can protect ourselves from total financial and moral ruin!)
7. George Sand (1804-1876), Histoire de ma vie. Tome neuvième. Paris: Lévy, 1856, 99. See the entry for Sand in Nietzsche's Library.

Paul Rée.
From b/w photo.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

[Venice, May 28, 1880]:
Postcard to Paul Rée.

Alas dearest friend, that you of all people would be stricken with such wounds!1 You, for whom I — I can't even say how much — wish a consistently warm, peaceful sun, from morning to evening of life, so that the whole abundance of noble fruits may become ripe and perfect without pungency and tartness. But the god of cannibals and ascetics is happy when precisely people, people such as you, suffer, it is pure cruelty. — And at the same time you still think of me and give me another drink of the best milk! — That is and remains for me W. Scott2 and and I thank you very much for it.

With heartfelt love Your
F.N.

1. Rée's foster sister, Mary Sellin Harper (1852-1880), died at the age of 27 while giving birth to her third child.
2. A number of works by Walter Scott in German translation were published in or around 1880, but it's uncertain which one was gifted to Nietzsche by Rée. The reference to milk is reminiscent of Nietzsche's 01-18-1876 letter to Carl von Gersdorff: "Ich lebe fast ganz von Milch, die mir gut thut, auch schlafe ich ordentlich, Milch und Schlaf sind die besten Dinge, die ich jetzt habe. [....] Meine Schwester liest mir viel vor, weil mir Lesen und Schreiben schwer fällt. Walter Scott hätte ich neben Milch und Schlaf nennen sollen." (I live almost entirely on milk, which does me good, I also sleep well; milk and sleep are the best things which I now have. [....] My sister reads to me a lot because I find it difficult to read and write. Along with milk and sleep, I should have mentioned Walter Scott.)

Title Page:
August Siebenlist, Schopenhauer's Philosophie der Tragödie.
Enhanced image The Nietzsche Channel.

[Venice, June 15, 1880]:
Postcard to Franz Overbeck.

If I could write letters like your dear wife writes them,1 I would then answer her (despite both of my eyes); but I am so ashamed and prefer to express my heartfelt thanks to you, dearest friend. I also have to do this later for the catalog of your writings, which is now being sent to me from Naumb[urg] and which will be useful to me. — Siebenlist's book2 is a piece of Schopenhauerian philology, against which nothing (or everything!) could be objected. — Selected three seaside resorts. I am thinking of leaving soon and would like to see if I receive the money3 here beforehand (250 + 750, please just like last time, 2 French notes of 500 each, no declaration of value, but address to Köselitz,4 not to me, I have such difficulty proving my identity)[.] For the moment maybe send only 500 frs. here, then hold back the rest. Departure is urgent, it is very warm.

Your friend.

1. See Basel, 05-28-1880: Letter from Ida Overbeck, in which she modestly summarizes her translation of Paul Albert's "Les consolateurs." See Nietzsche's 05-24-1880 letter to Ida Overbeck, footnote 1.
2. August Siebenlist (1849-1912), Schopenhauer's Philosophie der Tragödie. Pressburg; Leipzig: Stampfel, 1880. Siebenlist had sent a copy to Nietzsche in Basel, from where Overbeck forwarded it to Venice.
3. Overbeck sent Nietzsche his pension.
4. San Canciano, calle nuova 5256, Venice.

Title Page:
Hermann Lüdemann, Die Anthropologie des Apostels Paulus und ihre Stellung innerhalb seiner Heilslehre.
Enhanced image The Nietzsche Channel.

[Venice, June 22, 1880]:
Postcards (2) to Franz Overbeck.

Dearest friend, the money1 has arrived, quickly to my astonishment. I wasn't sure yet where to travel; even today I don't know yet, probably not far away, in forests whose shade is guaranteed (in Carniola2) to be precise as soon as possible! along with the new address. Would it be possible for you to do without 2 theolog[ical] books for 4 weeks? namely Lüdemann's anthrop[ology] of Paul3 and the book about Justinus,4 which you have often mentioned to me. Then I would like Wackernagel's printed article on the Bramans5 and his other (unprinted?) one on Buddhism.6 Do you see him occasionally? — I have reread your "Christianity"7 again, with a lot of joy in the astonishingly rich content and the excellent arrangement, I have become a little more worthy of this reading, because I have now thought about many things, namely right and left.

I am very glad that J. Bur[c]khardt is still thinking of me.8

(Continued.) When you wrote the book, as I now realize with shame, I believed I understood only nine tenths. There are so many fine lines in it that one has to look very carefully to enjoy everything. — I don't hear a word of my writings; don't think I'm dissatisfied with that! — Schm[eitzner]'s latest venture9 that you write about disgusts me; I'm angry that he didn't say a word about it to me. — My health was better in Venice than in Naumburg and Riva,10 my complexion is good. At any rate, still very much the same. — Troubling news from Dr. Rée.11 — Sending you and your dear wife the warmest and most grateful greetings

Your friend.

1. Overbeck sent Nietzsche his pension.
2. At the time, a region of Austria, now Slovenia.
3. Hermann Lüdemann, Die Anthropologie des Apostels Paulus und ihre Stellung innerhalb seiner Heilslehre. Nach den vier Hauptbriefen dargestellt von Dr. Hermann Lüdemann, Licentiat der Theologie, Privatdocent an der Universität Kiel. Kiel: Universitäts-Buchhandlung, 1872. See the entry for Lüdemann in Nietzsche's Library.
4. Moritz Engelhardt, Das Christenthum Justins des Märtyrers. Eine Untersuchung über die Anfänge der katholischen Glaubenslehre. Erlangen: Deichert, 1878. See the entry for Engelhardt in Nietzsche's Library.
5. Jacob Wackernagel, Über den Ursprung des Brahmanismus: Vortrag (Basel: Schweighauser (Hugo Richter), 1877. See the entry for Wackernagel in Nietzsche's Library.
6. Wackernagel's lecture on Buddhism was never printed.
7. Franz Overbeck, Ueber die Christlichkeit unserer heutigen Theologie. Streit- und Friedensschrift. Leipzig: Fritzsch, 1873. See the entry for Overbeck in Nietzsche's Library.
8. In letters to Heinrich Köselitz (05-09-1880; 06-18-1880), Franz Overbeck wrote that Jacob Burckhardt often inquired about Nietzsche.
9. In a series called Antisemitische Hefte (Anti-Semitic Pamphlets), Ernst Schmeitzner began reprinting the reprehensible writings of the anti-Semitic agitator, Wilhelm Marr (1819-1904). The series only lasted for one year with three issues: Wilhelm Marr, Der Judenkrieg, seine Fehler und wie er zu organisieren ist. "Der Verkauf findet zum besten des antisemitischen Agitationsfonds statt." Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1880. Aus: Der Sieg des Judentums über das Germanenthum. - [1879] Series: Antisemitische Hefte Nr. 1; Wilhelm Marr, Goldene Ratten und rothe Mäuse. "Der Verkauf findet zum besten des antisemitischen Agitationsfonds statt." Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1880. Series: Antisemitische Hefte Nr. 2; Wilhelm Marr, Oeffnet die Augen, Ihr deutschen Zeitungsleser. Ein unentbehrliches Büchlein für jeden deutschen Zeitungsleser. "Der Verkauf findet zum besten des antisemitischen Agitationsfonds statt." Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1880. Series: Antisemitische Hefte Nr. 3.
10. In 1880, Nietzsche resided in Riva del Garda from February 13 to March 13.
11. Paul Rée's foster sister, Mary Sellin Harper (1852-1880), died at the age of 27 while giving birth to her third child. His letter to Nietzsche about the event is lost.

Ernst Pflanz (1836-1916), "Marienbad."
Albumen print mounted on cardboard, ca. 1875.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

[Marienbad, July 7, 1880]:
Postcard to Franz Overbeck.

Dear friend, after a very unpleasant and disappointing trip,1 I am finally here in Marienbad (in Bohemia), my eyes almost drove me to despair at all the alleged "forest places" that I saw in the meantime. It's better here. I live in the forest: it's called "Hermitage." I dream that maybe we'll see each other again this summer? — If you can do without the books I recently wrote about,2 please send them; I've thought about "Christian morality" so often by now that I'm ravenously hungry for some material for my hypotheses.3

The good wishes of a water drinker4 and forest ranger to you and your dearest dear companion.

1. Around 06-29-1880, Nietzsche left Venice and arrived in Marienbad on 07-05-1880.
2. For a list of the books, see Nietzsche's 06-22-1880 postcards to Franz Overbeck.
3. Nietzsche stayed in Marienbad for two months. He began writing Morgenröthe (Dawn) in the autumn of 1880. After arriving in Genoa around 11-10-1880 (where he stayed until the end of April 1881), he continued working on the manuscript until sending it to Heinrich Köselitz on 01-25-1881. The book was finally published in July 1881.
4. Drinking water — as opposed to alcohol or coffee — was still a homeopathic cure at the time.

Heinrich Köselitz.
From b/w photo, Venice, 1878.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

Marienbad, July 18, 1880:
Letter to Heinrich Köselitz.

My dear friend, I still think several times a day about the pleasant pampering in Venice1 and of the even more pleasant pamperer, and I say only that one should not be allowed to have it so good for long and that it is quite right to be a hermit again and, as such, to go walking for ten hours a day, to drink fatal waters and await their effects. Meanwhile I am digging zealously in my moral mines2 and sometimes feel quite subterranean in the process — it now seems to me as if I have found the main tunnel and way out, but something like this can be believed and rejected a hundred times. Every now and then I hear an echo of Chopin's music, and you have now achieved such a thing,3 so that I always think of you and lose myself in thinking about possibilities. My confidence has become very strong; you are much more solidly built than I assumed, and apart from the detrimental influence that Herr Nietzsche has occasionally had on you, you are in every respect well conditioned. Ceterum censeo4 mountains and forests are better than cities, and Paris better than Vienna.5 But that does not matter.

On the way [here] I came into contact with an important ecclesiastic, who seemed to be among the first promoters of old Catholic music; he was a match for any detailed questions. I found him very much taken with Wagner's work on Palestrina;6 he said that the dramatic recitative (in the liturgy) was the seed of church music, and insisted afterward that the recital be as dramatic as possible. Regensburg[, he said,] was now the only city on earth where you could study the old music, but above all, could hear it (especially during Passiontide).

Have you heard about the fire at Mommsen's house? And that his notes were destroyed, the most voluminous preparatory work ever made by a living scholar? He supposedly rushed into the flames repeatedly, covered with burns, and eventually they had to restrain him by force. Such undertakings as M[ommsen]'s must be very rare, because a colossal memory, and a corresponding acumen in the criticism and organization of such material seldom come together, but rather work against one another. — When I heard the story, it was heartwringing, and even now I suffer physically when I think about it. Is that pity? But what is M[ommsen] to me? I am not at all favorably inclined towards him. —7

Here alone in the forest in The Eremitage,8 whose Eremit I am, there has been great distress since yesterday: I don't really know what happened, but the shadow of a crime lies on the house. Somebody buried something, others discovered it, one could hear terrible wailing, many gendarmes were there, a search of the house took place, and at night I heard someone moaning in anguish in the room next to me, so that sleep fled from me. Also in the dead of night there seemed to be digging again in the forest, but a surprise happened and there were tears and shouting again. An officer told me it was a "banknote affair" — I'm not curious enough to know as much about it as everyone around me probably knows. Suffice it to say, the forest solitude is eerie.9

I have been reading a novella by Mérimée, in which H[enri] Beyle's character is said to be portrayed: "The Etruscan Vase"; if this is true, it would be the character called St. Clair.10 The whole thing is derisive, pretentious11 and deeply melancholic.

Lastly, a reflection: one ceases to love oneself properly when one ceases to exercise oneself in loving others: wherefore the latter (the ceasing) is very much advised against.12 (From my own experience.) Farewell my beloved and very much valued friend, may things go well with you by day and by night.

Faithfully your F.N.

In your conduct toward the deserter,13 Schopenhauer would see a proof of the immutability of character14 — and be wrong about it, as he almost always is.

1. Nietzsche stayed in Venice with Heinrich Köselitz from March 13-June 29, 1880.
2. Cf. preface to Morgenröthe (Dawn).
3. Köselitz played Chopin for him.
4. But I reckon that.
5. Köselitz was planning on a trip to Vienna.
6. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Richard Wagner, Stabat mater. Motette für zwei Chöre a capella mit Vortrags-Bezeichnungen für Kirchen- und Concert-Aufführungen. Leipzig: Kahnt, 1878.
7. Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903): German historian. See the entry for Theodor Mommsen in Nietzsche's Library. One of the rare items lost in the fire was the Getica, by Jornandes, about which Nietzsche wrote at length in his early essays on Ermanarich. See Nietzsche's Writings as a Student, 35-46.
8. "The Hermitage": the name of the hotel Nietzsche was staying at in Marienbad.
9. For more details on the events regarding the arrest of the counterfeiter, see here (in Czech).
10. Henri Beyle, who wrote under the name Stendhal. See Prosper Mérimée, "Le vase étrusque." In: Revue de Paris. Tome onzième. Paris: Bureau de la Revue de Paris, 1830, 83-108. Cf. an English translation in: Prosper Mérimée, Arthur Ransome (ed.), Mateo Falcone and other stories. London: Jack, 1908, 83-115.
11. vornehm.
12. Cf. Morgenröthe (Dawn), § 401.
13. Köselitz had offered assistance to an Austrian deserter.
14. Cf. Arthur Schopenhauer, "Ueber die Freiheit des menschlichen Willens." In: Arthur Schopenhauer's sämmtliche Werke. Hrsg. von Julius Frauenstädt. Bd. 4. Schriften zur Naturphilosophie und zur Ethik. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1874, 50.

Title Page:
Franz Overbeck, Zur Geschichte des Kanons. Zwei Abhandlungen.
Enhanced image The Nietzsche Channel.

[Marienbad, July 19, 1880]:
Postcard to Franz Overbeck.

My dear friend, your parcel1 and surprise had the most delightful effect. Your own treat[ises]2 are very fine things, such a fine philological air blows within them that I find it very difficult to be silent. Judging by the suppleness of the style, I would like to believe you felt the same as well. — But what an awful guy is Engelhart!3 Since he knows everything so much better than Justin, he probab[ly] doesn't understand it out of arrogance. Lüdemann's work,4 on the other hand, is a masterpiece in a very difficult field: unfortunately he is no writer. (I want to write a word of thanks to Wackern[agel].)5 It is of course very bad with my eyes, I can no longer spare them when I spare them, and yet they actually withstand neither reading nor writing; occasionally finding a quarter of an hour is the trick. — Wonderful thought: See you in Naumburg. My warmest greetings to your dear wife and esteemed relatives in Zurich.6

F.N.

1. Containing books Nietzsche requested. See Nietzsche's 06-22-1880 postcards to Franz Overbeck.
2. Franz Overbeck, Zur Geschichte des Kanons. Zwei Abhandlungen. Chemnitz: Schmeitzner, 1880.
3. Moritz Engelhardt, Das Christenthum Justins des Märtyrers. Eine Untersuchung über die Anfänge der katholischen Glaubenslehre. Erlangen: Deichert, 1878. See the entry for Engelhardt in Nietzsche's Library.
4. Hermann Lüdemann, Die Anthropologie des Apostels Paulus und ihre Stellung innerhalb seiner Heilslehre. Nach den vier Hauptbriefen dargestellt von Dr. Hermann Lüdemann, Licentiat der Theologie, Privatdocent an der Universität Kiel. Kiel: Universitäts-Buchhandlung, 1872. See the entry for Lüdemann in Nietzsche's Library.
5. Jacob Wackernagel, Über den Ursprung des Brahmanismus: Vortrag. Basel: Schweighauser (Hugo Richter), 1877. See the entry for Wackernagel in Nietzsche's Library.
6. Ida Overbeck's mother, Louise Rothpletz, lived in Zürich.

Elisabeth Nietzsche.
By: Carl Bräunlich (1850-1900).
From b/w photo, Jena 1881.1
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

[Marienbad, July 19, 1880]:
Postcard to Elisabeth Nietzsche.

My sweet dear sister, your cheerful blue letter was really well received: the next day I had the best day so far. Now we have trouble in the house,2 the owner has suddenly been taken to prison, gendarmes came and dug up a printing press for counterfeit banknotes, searched the house, and there was considerable lamentation afterwards. The poor woman was beside herself with profound desperation for 3 days. As I said: I want to go to Ruhla next month, hopefully the forests there are as good as here.3 But to stay here in the long run — that won't work for me. I can't eat well here on a single guilder. Everything is 3-5 times more expensive than in Venice.4 Summer, I notice, is really my best season. Will we see you in Ruhla? The warmest greetings to our good mother.

1. Colorized from b/w photo, GSA 101/161.
2. For more details on the events regarding the arrest of the counterfeiter, see here (in Czech).
3. Nietzsche eventually decided not to go to Ruhla, a town in the Thuringian forest.
4. In 1880, Nietzsche resided in Venice from March 13 to June 29.

Neue freie Presse, Wien.
Nr. 5697, 07-08-1880.
Georg Brandes, "Alfred de Musset und George Sand."
Enhanced image The Nietzsche Channel.

[Marienbad, August 2, 1880]:
Postcard to Heinrich Köselitz.

Here, dear friend, a line of thanks for your last letter that moved me in many ways, and also troubled me; I also urge you to cross out the word "indulgent"1; you still do not know how I think of you, neither with care nor with indulgence2 — you have my confidence, and I wish at this point to at least have yours. But it is strange to observe: whoever deviates from the conventional everyday path early on in order to walk his right path always has a semi- or a complete feeling of an exile, someone condemned by and escaped from people: this kind of bad conscience is the suffering of the self-reliant good man. The cure is — what do you think? — a great success with those who have recently been avoided. — Please, don't miss 3 essays in your Free Press: (4 weeks ago) George Sand and A. de Musset.3 (8 days ago[)] Stifter as a landscape painter,4 and Hect[or] Berlioz in his letters.5 — Recently always in an irrepressibly lofty mood! Tomorrow departure6 — Very faithfully your friend F. N.

1. See 07-21-1880 letter from Heinrich Köselitz.
2. Nietzsche's wordplay is not really translatable: "weder vorsichtig, noch nachsichtig." Perhaps: "neither carefully nor carefree."
3. Georg Brandes, "Alfred de Musset und George Sand." In: Neue freie Presse, Wien, Nr. 5697, 07-08-1880.
4. Emmerich Ranzoni, "Adalbert Stifter als Maler." In: Neue freie Presse, Wien, Nr. 5718, 07-29-1880.
5. W., "Liebesschicksal eines Musikers." In: Neue freie Presse, Wien, Nr. 5719, 07-30-1880; W., "Hector Berlioz." In: Neue freie Presse, Wien, Nr. 5720, 07-31-1880.
6. Nietzsche eventually decided not to go to Ruhla, a town in the Thuringian forest.

Naumburg Cathedral.
By: Hermann Ruckwardt (1845-1919).
Photograph, 1879.
© Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin-Preußischer Kulturbesitz.
Enhanced image The Nietzsche Channel.

[Marienbad, August 12, 1880]:
Postcard to Franziska and Elisabeth Nietzsche.

I am still, my dear ones, in Marienbad,1 day after day and for weeks, the weather has been hideous, constant rain and gray skies. My condition has slowly worsened, there were violent attacks with vomiting again, etc. — But I don't want to write about this misery any more. How long have I been deprived of what is so noticeably good for me, pure air and sun! I will probably stay here until the end of the month, I am too suspicious of changing locations and so seldom find anything suitable for me. Here I still have the forest and the good paths in it, which I often walk amidst the rain. At the beginning of September I will be coming to you two and reckon that I will find a quiet, pleasant autumn life there. In mid-October, however, I will be heading south again, it's no use — right now I still can't stand Germany. I think of you with much love.

F N.

1. Nietzsche eventually decided not to go to Ruhla, a town in the Thuringian forest, but instead spent seven weeks from 09-02-1880 to 10-08-1880 at "home" in Naumburg.

Title Page:
Menschen des XVIII. Jahrhunderts nach den Causeries du lundi von Sainte-Beuve.
Enhanced image The Nietzsche Channel.

Marienbad, August 18, 1880:
Letter to Ida Overbeck.

An hour ago, dear Frau Professor, I received "Personalities of the 18th Century";1 I browsed through it and saw an assortment of good words, and behind each one, so much, much more! I was delighted by it, and at the same time seized by a feeling of profound, ineffable privation. I believe I wept, and it would be strange if this excellent little book did not arouse such a sensation in many others. —

Why haven't I written? Because for 3 weeks I have been flapping my wings to get away from Marienbad — and because three weeks of constant rainy weather clung to me, was detrimental to my health and myself due to constant change from expectation to disappointment, depriving me of almost all capability to make decisions. Now I will patiently hold out until the end of the month, and again try to achieve a moderate level of wellbeing that I owe to the forest, the sun, the clear sky and the fatal little sips of water in the first few weeks of my stay here. Had it stayed that way, I would have spent my August near Dresden2 — that was my plan and I did not write in order to write anything specific about the time of arrival.

But nevertheless! There remains the beautiful hope for the Naumburg reunion!3 right? — And this [plan] shall not fall through! —

Today they celebrated the Kaiser's birthday4 here, but in the midst of the black and yellow colors I can always think something terrible, about the birthday of the plague.5 — I glanced again in Sainte Beuve. He has perceived very fine things: p. 19 he speaks of the informality of (Font[enelle]'s) expression which — looks like a secret ruse against the grandeur of things[.]"6 This is perceived in the style of Pascal.

Best wishes to my dear friends and the entire esteemed circle

Your grateful
very grateful
Friedrich Nietzsche.

1. Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804-1869): French writer. Ida Overbeck was the anonymous translator of: Menschen des XVIII. Jahrhunderts nach den Causeries du lundi von Sainte-Beuve. Chemnitz: Schmeitzner, 1880. Nietzsche suggested and oversaw the completion of the publication. In his 11-18-1879 postcard to Ernst Schmeitzner, Nietzsche wrote: "Geehrtester Herr, die Sainte-Beuve-Übersetzung ist fertig: wollen Sie sich an Hr. Prof. Overbeck ihretwegen wenden? (Frau Prof. O[verbeck] wünscht dringend, vollständig aus dem Spiele zu bleiben, also bitte, stellen Sie Sich als wüßten Sie nichts von ihrer Mitbetheiligung[.]) Titel vielleicht: 'Sainte Beuve. Menschen des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts. Erste deutsche Übersetzung.' (Es sind 8 Personen; es giebt einen kleinen netten Band zum Anbeißen[.])" (Dearest sir, the Sainte-Beuve translation is finished: would you like to contact Mr. Prof. Overbeck about it? (Mrs. Prof. O[verbeck] desperately wishes to be kept completely out of it, so please, pretend you don't know anything about her participation[.]) Title perhaps: "Sainte Beuve. Personalities of the Eighteenth Century. First German translation." (There are 8 personalities; it is a nice little volume to get your teeth into[.]))
2. Franz Overbeck's relatives lived in Dresden.
3. The exact date in September when they met in Naumburg is uncertain, but they reunited later in Basel on 10-08-1880. See 11-27-1880 letter from Franz Overbeck to Heinrich Köselitz: "Von Niet[zsche] habe ich neuerdings recht verstimmende Nachrichten aus der Gegend von Genua, die mich um so tiefer betrüben, als ich im September bei einem 2tägigen Besuch in Naumburg von ihm mit Eindrükken schied, die mich mit Hoffnungen erfüllten, wie ich sie seit Jahren für N. nicht mehr hatte." (From Niet[zsche] I have recently received quite upsetting news from the vicinity of Genoa, which saddens me all the more since on a 2-day visit to Naumburg in September I left with impressions of him that filled me with hopes for N[ietzsche] that I no longer had for years.)
4. Kaiser Franz Joseph I (1830-1916) was born on 08-18-1830.
5. An allusion to the colors (yellow and black) of quarantine flags for disease.
6. Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Ida Overbeck (trans.), Menschen des XVIII. Jahrhunderts nach den Causeries du lundi von Sainte-Beuve. Chemnitz: Schmeitzner, 1880, 19. See the entry for Sainte-Beuve in Nietzsche's Library. Excerpt from Sainte-Beuve's "Lundi, 27 janvier 1851. Fontenelle, par M[ssr]. Flourens." In: Causeries du lundi. Troisieme edition. Troisieme Tome, 314-335 (328): "Ce grand esprit, atteint en ceci d'un reste de superstition, recule devant la vérité de Copernic et laisse indécise la balance. Si inférieur à Pascal comme imagination et comme âme, et dans un rapport qu'on dirait incommensurable avec lui (nous sommes en style de géomètre), Fontenelle, à titre d'esprit libre et dégagé, d'esprit net, impartial et étendu, reprend lentement ses avantages, et, sur la fin de ce siècle de grandeur, mais certes aussi d'illusion et de timidité majestueuse, il ose voir en réalité et exprimer en douceur les vérités naturelles telles qu'elles sont. Là est son originalité, là est sa gloire. / On commence à sentir en quoi, malgré ses légèretés et ses minauderies d'agrément, malgré cette familiarité affectée d'expressions qui semble par moments une chicane concertée contre la majesté des choses, Fontenelle se différencie profondément des écrivains frivoles qui traitent des sujets graves et qui ne prennent point la vérité en elle-même." (This great mind, affected in this by a remnant of superstition, recoils before the truth of Copernicus and leaves the balance undecided. So inferior to Pascal in imagination and in soul, and in a relationship that one would call immeasurable to him (we are in the style of a surveyor), Fontenelle, as a free and clear mind, a clear, impartial and comprehensive mind, slowly resumes his advantages, and, at the end of this century of greatness, but certainly also of illusion and majestic timidity, he dares to perceive reality and to express gently natural truths as they are. There is his originality, there is his glory. / One begins to feel how, in spite of his lightness and his simpering airs, despite this familiarity affected by expressions which at times seems a concerted ruse against the majesty of things, Fontenelle differs deeply from frivolous writers who deal with serious subjects and who do not take the truth in itself.)

Richard Wagner.
Munich, 1880.
From b/w photo by Joseph Albert.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

Marienbad, August 20, 1880:
Letter to Heinrich Köselitz.

Friend Köselitz, in my harvest, indeed harvest-festival mood, your letter chimed in, though a bit somberly, but so well and powerfully that today I again, as always, conclude and rest my reflections about you with the chorale

"What K. does, is rightly done, His will is just forever!"

Amen.1

You are made of sterner stuff than I am, and are free to cultivate for yourself higher ideals. For my part, I suffer terribly when I am deprived of sympathy; and, for example, nothing can compensate me for the fact that in recent years I have been deprived of Wagner's sympathy. How often I dream of him, and always in the style of our former intimate togetherness. There was never an angry word spoken between us, not even in my dreams, yet very many encouraging and cheerful ones, and with no one perhaps have I laughed so much. That's over now — and what good is it to be in the right, in many respects, against him! As if that could wipe this forlorn sympathy from my memory! — And I have experienced similar things before, and will probably experience them again. They are the hardest sacrifices that my path through life and thought have demanded of me — even now my whole philosophy falters after an hour of sympathetic conversation with total strangers; it seems to me so foolish to want to be right at the cost of love, and not be able to communicate what is most worthwhile about it, for the sake of preserving sympathy. Hinc meae lacrimae.2 —

I'm still in Marienbad: the "Austrian weather" has kept me here! Bear in mind that it has rained every day since July 24, and often all day long. Cloudy and rainy skies, but nice walks in the woods. My health took a turn for the worse here; in summa, however, I have been content with Venice and Marienbad. There has not been so much contemplation here since Goethe,3 and even Goethe did not let so [many] essential things pass through his head — I really outdid myself.4 One time, in the woods, a gentleman who was passing by stared very hard at me: I felt at that moment that the expression on my face must have been one beaming with joy, and that I had been walking around with it for 2 hours. I am living incognito as the most inconspicuous of all spa guests; in the registry for foreigners I am listed as "Mr. Nietzsche, teacher." There are many Poles here and they — it's strange — keep taking me for a Pole, greeting me in Polish and — do not believe me when I make it known that I'm a Swiss. "He is of the Polish race, but his heart has wandered God knows where" — so one of them said to me in parting, quite sad.

I am in Naumburg in early September. The Overbecks are also coming. Also Frau von Wöhrmann (she is dissolving her household in N[aumburg] and is moving to Venice). The son of Frau W[öhrmann] and likewise his friend Count Werthern, who attended the Naumburg Gymnasium, are going to be at our house.5 Do you have the "Menschen des 18. Jahrhunderts" by St. Beuve?6 It contains superb portraits of people and St. B[euve] is a great artist. But I can still see above every figure a curved line that he does not see, and this advantage gives me my philosophy. My philosophy? Let the devil take it! And you may summon the dear Lord — he takes delight in all things Köselitz.

Faithfully yours
FN.

1. Cf. the first stanza of "Was Gott thut, das ist wohlgethan" by Samuel Rodigast: "Was Gott thut, das ist wohlgethan, / Es bleibt gerecht sein Wille; / Wie er fängt meine Sachen an / Will ich ihm halten stille. / Er ist mein Gott, der in der Noth / Mich wohl weiss zu erhalten: / Drum lass' ich ihn nur walten." See Marian Van Til, George Frideric Handel. A Music Lover's Guide to His Life, His Faith & the Development of Messiah and His Other Oratorios. Youngstown: WordPower Publishing, 2007, 273: "What God does, that is rightly done, / His will is just forever; / Whatever course he sets [for] my life / I will trust him with calmness. / He is my God, who in [my] distress / Knows well how to support me: / So I yield him all power." Rodigast's words and melody were also used by Bach (Cantatas 12, 98-100).
2. "Hence my tears." Cf. Terence, Andria, i:i (v. 99). Or: Publii Terentii Afri, Andria....London: Walton & Mayberly, 1858, 17.
3. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) stayed in Marienbad in August 1823.
4. "ich war über mich selber weit hinaus."
5. Emma von Wöhrmann, b. von Budberg (1839-1881); Sidney von Wöhrmann (1862-?); Otto von Werthern.
6. Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804-1869): French writer. Ida Overbeck was the anonymous translator of: Menschen des XVIII. Jahrhunderts nach den Causeries du lundi von Sainte-Beuve. Chemnitz: Schmeitzner, 1880. See the entry for Sainte-Beuve in Nietzsche's Library.

Niagara Falls.
By: Arthur Parton (1842-1914).
Watercolor on wove paper, ca. 1880.
Enhanced image The Nietzsche Channel.

[North America, Summer 1880]:
Letter from Paul Rée.

Dearest friend —

Just a greeting from the New World,1 which is unfortunately still the old one for me, — except for one point: The long sea voyage (almost always calm or contrary winds) has at least strengthened my philosophical muscles, and [made me] plus philosophe que jamais2 (nothing can be less American!) I'm dying to return to Europe and work. Even the Niagara Falls, for which I am leaving tomorrow, I will see almost more out of duty than inclination.

If only I could get any news from you here! More from Niagara — today just this sign of life.

Warmest regards to your family!
P. R.

1. See his 06-17-1880 letter to Franziska Nietzsche.
2. More of a philosopher than ever.

Paul Rée.
From b/w photo.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

[Stresa, October 31, 1880]:
Postcard to Paul Rée.

Perhaps, dearest friend, you have returned home1 and saved yourself and your philosophy from the dangers of the sea and of Americanism. I think of you with true longing, without having any prospect of satisfying it; for I had to retreat to the south again2 and this time, as I have promised myself, for longer. As a prescription as well as a natural passion, solitude seems to me more and more clearly the perfect one — and the state in which we can accomplish our best has to be established and many sacrifices have to be made for it. For such a solitary person, however, "the friend" is a more priceless thought than the crowd here.3 — My respects to your parents.

1. For Paul Rée's trip to America, see his 06-17-1880 letter to Franziska Nietzsche.
2. Nietzsche was on his way to Genoa.
3. Cf. Nietzsche's 1879 work, Vermischte Meinungen und Sprüche, §348: "Aus dem Lande der Menschenfresser. — In der Einsamkeit frisst sich der Einsame selbst auf, in der Vielsamkeit fressen ihn die vielen. Nun wähle." (Mixed Opinions and Maxims, §348: From the land of the cannibals. — In solitude the solitary man eats himself up, in the multitude the many eat him up. Now choose.)

Gustav Krug.
Ca. 1900.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

Genoa, November 16, 1880:
Letter to Gustav Krug.

Here in Genoa, my dear Gustav, I came across your sad news;1 I am quickly writing a few lines extemporaneously, as we travel, and more as a sign of my sympathy than an expression of it. In that it is, as I now see from the calendar, your birthday — you will look back upon your life today with particular melancholy! We are growing older and thus lonelier: precisely that love abandons us, which loved us like an unconscious necessity, not because of our particular qualities, but often in spite of them. Our past draws to a close when our mother dies: then for the first time our childhood and youth become nothing more than a memory. And then on it goes, the friends of our youth die, our teachers, the ideals of those days — ever more solitude, ever more cold the winds blowing about us. You were right to plant another garden of love around you, dear friend!2 I think that you will be particularly grateful for your lot today. Furthermore, you have remained true to your art; I listened to everything that you reported to me about it with sincere satisfaction, and perhaps in the course of time my body will reach a more favorable age than the present one, when we shall once again sit together and see the past resurrected out of your [musical] notes, indeed just as with the music of our youth, when we had both dreamed together of our future.3

I dare not say more, my afflictions (which still, as in the past, have their own daily history) have laid their dictatorial hand upon me. When you think of me (as you did on my birthday, which, this time, I had even forgotten), you must believe that I do not lack the courage and the patience, even the way things now stand and are going, to aspire to high, very high goals. —

You must also firmly believe that I am and remain your friend

Devotedly, with heartfelt love
Friedrich Nietzsche.
(Genoa)

1. The death of Clementine Krug (1811-1880): Gustav Krug's mother.
2. Krug's marriage. See Nietzsche's 11-14-1873 letter to Krug.
3. Nietzsche and Krug were friends since childhood, a friendship strengthened by the fact that Krug's father was an excellent musician and composer. See Nietzsche's autobiographical work, "From My Life." In: Nietzsche's Writings as a Student. The Nietzsche Channel, 2012, 1-34 (11).

Franz Overbeck.
By: Jacob Höflinger.
From b/w photo, Basel, ca. 1880.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

[Genoa, November 17, 1880]:
Postcard to Franz Overbeck.

Cherished friend, I'm just sending news that I have finally reached1 the Ligurian coast and will be living not very far from Genoa for the time being. Since our last exchange of cards and letters, I have been besieged by every malady and insalubrious thing, so that I hardly remember a worse time;2 I have suffered like a bear in a tight spot,3 and timidity and bitterness were also nestled in my heart — extremely hibernal, as in nature. Meanwhile I think of the ashes and the phoenix: upwards! Think of me with love!

Your friend.

(Under all circumstances: Genova poste restante.)

 
 
 

1. 11-08-1880.
2. For Overbeck's reaction to this letter, see his 11-27-1880 letter to Heinrich Köselitz: "Von Niet[zsche] habe ich neuerdings recht verstimmende Nachrichten aus der Gegend von Genua, die mich um so tiefer betrüben, als ich im September bei einem 2tägigen Besuch in Naumburg von ihm mit Eindrükken schied, die mich mit Hoffnungen erfüllten, wie ich sie seit Jahren für N. nicht mehr hatte." (From Niet[zsche] I have recently received quite upsetting news from the vicinity of Genoa, which saddens me all the more since on a 2-day visit to Naumburg in September I left with impressions of him that filled me with hopes for N[ietzsche] that I no longer had for years.)
3. An allusion to the tale of Reynard the Fox, and his trickery against Bruin the Bear, who, with the promise of honey, was trapped in the hole of a tree.

Riviera di Levante. Portolino.
Based on a photo by Alfred Noack.
Photograph mounted on cardboard, ca. 1880.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

[Genoa, second half of November 1880]:
Letter to Franz Overbeck.

You will be deep in work, dear friend, but a few words from me will not disturb you. It always does me good to think of you at your work, it's as if a healthy force of nature worked, as it were, blindly through you, and yet it is a [kind of] reason that works in the subtlest and most intertwined material and by which we have to abide when it behaves impatiently and doubtfully, and sometimes to our despair. I owe you so much, dear friend, for the fact that I was able to watch the spectacle of your life so closely: in fact, Basel bestowed upon me your image and that of Jakob Burckhardt; I think that it is not only with regard to knowledge that I have made great use of these images. The dignity and the grace of a distinctive and essentially solitary way of living and knowing: this spectacle was "presented at my door"1 by the favor of my destiny, which cannot be revered enough — and consequently, I left that house differently than I entered it.

Now all my writings and endeavors are aimed at realizing an ideal attic solitude in which all those necessary and most elementary demands of my nature, as many, many pains have taught me, come into their own. And perhaps I will succeed! The daily struggle against my headaches and the ridiculous variety of my distresses requires such attention that I run the risk of becoming petty as well — well, it is the counterweight to very general, very ambitious urges that have such control over me that I would have to make a fool of myself without great counterweights. I have just come round from a very vicious attack, and no sooner had I shaken off my distress of the past two days when my folly again pursued quite incredible things, from the moment I wake up, and I do not think that any attic occupants will see the dawn illuminate more lovely and desirable things. Help me to hold onto this hiddenness, deny my existence in Genoa, — for a good period of time I have to live without people and in the middle of a city whose language I do not know, I must — I repeat; have no fears on my account! I live as if the centuries were nothing and pursue my thoughts without thinking of the date or the newspapers.

I also want to have nothing more to do with the aspirations of the current "idealism," especially the German one[.] — Let us all do our work, posterity may then rank us such and such, or it may not do it: I merely want to feel free and not to have to say yes! or no! e.g., to such a typically idealistic booklet2 like the one I am sending you. It's the last thing I want to get to know about the current "German mind" — equally touching, presumptuous, and in unspeakably bad taste: just read it once, together with your wife, of course! And then burn it and read Plutarch's life of Brutus and Dion3 to purge yourself of this German bombast. — Farewell, dear friend! Did I congratulate you on your birthday?4 No. But I congratulated myself for it.

With all my love.

Genova, poste restante.

1. Nietzsche and Overbeck were housemates in Basel.
2. Unknown book.
3. Plutarch, Werke. Vierzigstes Bändchen. Vergleichende Lebensbeschreibungen. Dreiundzwanzigstes Bändchen, übersetzt von Dr. J. F. C. Campe. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1859. See the entry for Plutarch in Nietzsche's Library.
4. November 16.

Elisabeth Nietzsche.
By: Carl Bräunlich (1850-1900).
From b/w photo, Jena 1881.1
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

[Genoa, December 5, 1880]:
Postcard to Elisabeth Nietzsche.

My dear Lisbeth, our messages have crossed: I go to the post office once a week. Go! Yes, there is a lot going on! Also going up! For in order to get to my garret, I have to climb 164 steps inside the house, and the house itself is very high up, on a steep palace street,2 which is very quiet because of its steepness and because it leads to a big flight of steps with some grass between the stones. — My health is in a hideous disorder, including my stomach. But the air of the sea does me unspeakable good. Do not disclose my hermitage. Patience! How often do I think of your kindness from the autumn!3 Your F.

1. Colorized from b/w photo, GSA 101/161.
2. Nietzsche kept his address secret in order to prevent people from communicating with him, and thus to work and write undisturbed.
3. When Nietzsche was ill and recuperating at home in Naumburg.