established himself as a journalist. In Berlin Lessing now spent
three years, maintaining himself chiefly by literary work. He
translated three volumes of Charles Rollin’s Histoire ancienne,
wrote several plays—Der Misogyn, Der Freigeist,
Die Juden—and
in association with Mylius, began the Beiträge zur Historie
und Aufnahme des Theaters (1750), a periodical—which soon
came to an end—for the discussion of matters connected with
the drama. Early in 1751 he became literary critic to the
Vossische Zeitung, and in this position laid the foundation for
his reputation as a reviewer of learning, judgment and wit. At
the end of 1751 he was in Wittenberg again, where he spent about
a year engaged in unremitting study and research. He then
returned to Berlin with a view to making literature his profession;
and the next three years were among the busiest of
his life. Besides translating for the booksellers, he issued several
numbers of the Theatralische Bibliothek, a periodical similar
to that which he had begun with Mylius; he also continued his
work as critic to the Vossische Zeitung. In 1754 he gave a particularly
brilliant proof of his critical powers in his Vademecum für
Herrn S. G. Lange; as a retort to that writer’s overbearing
criticism, Lessing exposed with scathing satire Lange’s errors
in his popular translation of Horace.
By 1753 Lessing felt that his position was sufficiently assured to allow of him issuing an edition of his collected writings (Schriften, 6 vols., 1753–1755). They included his lyrics and epigrams, most of which had already appeared during his first residence in Berlin in a volume of Kleinigkeiten, published anonymously. Much more important were the papers entitled Rettungen, in which he undertook to vindicate the character of various writers—Horace and writers of the Reformation period, such as Cochlaeus and Cardanus—who had been misunderstood or falsely judged by preceding generations. The Schriften also contained Lessing’s early plays, and one new one, Miss Sara Sampson (1755). Hitherto Lessing had, as a dramatist, followed the methods of contemporary French comedy as cultivated in Leipzig; Miss Sara Sampson, however, marks the beginning of a new period in the history of the German drama. This play, based more or less on Lillo’s Merchant of London, and influenced in its character-drawing by the novels of Richardson, is the first bürgerliches Trauerspiel, or “tragedy of common life” in German. It was performed for the first time at Frankfort-on-Oder in the summer of 1755, and received with great favour. Among Lessing’s chief friends during his second residence in Berlin were the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), in association with whom he wrote in 1755 an admirable treatise, Pope ein Metaphysiker! tracing sharply the lines which separate the poet from the philosopher. He was also on intimate terms with C. F. Nicolai (1733–1811), a Berlin bookseller and rationalistic writer, and with the “German Horace” K. W. Ramler (1725–1798); he had also made the acquaintance of J. W. L. Gleim (1719–1803), the Halberstadt poet, and E. C. von Kleist (1715–1759), a Prussian officer, whose fine poem, Der Frühling, had won for him Lessing’s warm esteem.
In October 1755 Lessing settled in Leipzig with a view to devoting himself more exclusively to the drama. In 1756 he accepted the invitation of Gottfried Winkler, a wealthy young merchant, to accompany him on a foreign tour for three years. They did not, however, get beyond Amsterdam, for the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War made it necessary for Winkler to return home without loss of time. A disagreement with his patron shortly after resulted in Lessing’s sudden dismissal; he demanded compensation and, although in the end the court decided in his favour, it was not until the case had dragged on for about six years. At this time Lessing began the study of medieval literature to which attention had been drawn by the Swiss critics, Bodmer and Breitinger, and wrote occasional criticisms for Nicolai’s Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften. In Leipzig Lessing had also an opportunity of developing his friendship with Kleist who happened to be stationed there. The two men were mutually attracted, and a warm affection sprang up between them. In 1758 Kleist’s regiment being ordered to new quarters, Lessing decided not to remain behind him and returned again to Berlin. Kleist was mortally wounded in the following year at the battle of Kunersdorf.
Lessing’s third residence in Berlin was made memorable by the Briefe, die neueste Literatur betreffend (1759–1765), a series of critical essays—written in the form of letters to a wounded officer—on the principal books that had appeared since the beginning of the Seven Years’ War. The scheme was suggested by Nicolai, by whom the Letters were published. In Lessing’s share in this publication, his critical powers and methods are to be seen at their best. He insisted especially on the necessity of truth to nature in the imaginative presentation of the facts of life, and in one letter he boldly proclaimed the superiority of Shakespeare to Corneille, Racine and Voltaire. At the same time he marked the immutable conditions to which even genius must submit if it is to succeed in its appeal to our sympathies. While in Berlin at this time, he edited with Ramler a selection from the writings of F. von Logau, an epigrammatist of the 17th century, and introduced to the German public the Lieder eines preussischen Grenadiers, by J. W. L. Gleim. In 1759 he published Philotas, a prose tragedy in one act, and also a complete collection of his fables, preceded by an essay on the nature of the fable. The latter is one of his best essays on criticism, defining with perfect lucidity what is meant by “action” in works of the imagination, and distinguishing the action of the fable from that of the epic and the drama.
In 1760, feeling the need of some change of scene and work, Lessing went to Breslau, where he obtained the post of secretary to General Tauentzien, to whom Kleist had introduced him in Leipzig. Tauentzien was not only a general in the Prussian army, but governor of Breslau, and director of the mint. During the four years which Lessing spent in Breslau, he associated chiefly with Prussian officers, went much into society, and developed a dangerous fondness for the gaming table. He did not, however, lose sight of his true goal; he collected a large library, and, after the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War, in 1763, he resumed more enthusiastically than ever the studies which had been partially interrupted. He investigated the early history of Christianity and penetrated more deeply than any contemporary thinker into the significance of Spinoza’s philosophy. He also found time for the studies which were ultimately to appear in the volume entitled Laokoon, and in fresh spring mornings he sketched in a garden the plan of Minna von Barnhelm.
After resigning his Breslau appointment in 1765, he hoped for a time to obtain a congenial appointment in Dresden, but nothing came of this and he was again compelled, much against his will, to return to Berlin. His friends there exerted themselves to obtain for him the office of keeper of the royal library, but Frederick had not forgotten Lessing’s quarrel with Voltaire, and declined to consider his claims. During the two years which Lessing now spent in the Prussian capital, he was restless and unhappy, yet it was during this period that he published two of his greatest works, Laokoon, oder über die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie (1766) and Minna von Barnhelm (1767). The aim of Laokoon, which ranks as a classic, not only in German but in European literature, is to define by analysis the limitations of poetry and the plastic arts. Many of his conclusions have been corrected and extended by later criticism; but he indicated more decisively than any of his predecessors the fruitful principle that each art is subject to definite conditions, and that it can accomplish great results only by limiting itself to its special function. The most valuable parts of the work are those which relate to poetry, of which he had a much more intimate knowledge than of sculpture and painting. His exposition of the methods of Homer and Sophocles is especially suggestive, and he may be said to have marked an epoch in the appreciation of these writers, and of Greek literature generally. The power of Minna von Barnhelm, Lessing’s greatest drama, was also immediately recognized. Tellheim, the hero of the comedy, is an admirable study of a manly and sensitive soldier, with somewhat exaggerated ideas of conventional honour; and Minna, the heroine, is one of the brightest and most attractive figures in German
