Lavater Correspondence

Lavater's correspondence
Letters to and from Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801)

Encounter on paper
Lavater was at his best when meeting others face to face to discuss topics of mutual interest. His charismatic personality is said to have been irresistible. Lavater's need to foster close personal relationships despite physical distance made him one of the most prolific correspondents of his time, a period itself characterized by a great fondness for writing. According to the principle of "allen alles zu sein" borrowed from Paul (1 Cor. 9:22), he attuned himself to each of his correspondents.
Lavater was prominent in his efforts to create the impression of a spontaneous meeting on paper. He achieved this spontaneity through his writing style, using colloquial language, as well as the liberal use of punctuation marks: dashes, colons, question marks, and exclamation points. These punctuation marks symbolized that which could not be expressed through the mere literal meaning of the words. This practice of "lavaterisieren" became fashionable among his contemporaries.

Fascinating variety
Lavater's extensive, pan-European correspondence features a fascinating variety of topics. It is indisputably dominated by religious matters in the broadest sense, at the center of which lies the inquiry into manifest transcendental experience in immanence. In his Promemoria zur Lebensgeschichte [Memorandum on My Life Story], Lavater declares that the goal and purpose of his life has been "mit Jesus Christus in eine reelle, correspondenzmäßige Connexion zu kommen".
Other topics that have a strong focus in Lavater's correspondece were verse and poetry, pedagogical issues and painting, especially portrait art which was in many ways related to his best known work, the monumental Physiognomischen Fragmenten.
On these topics, Lavater corresponded with nearly all leading figures of intellectual and spiritual German-speaking Europe, such as Wieland, Klopstock, Herder, Goethe, Gleim, and Claudius. Pedagogical issues were discussed with Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Basedow and Campe. Besides corresponding on pedagogy, Lavater wrote a series of children's and young adult books.
Last but not least, Lavater had a keen interest in social and political issues. Especially the French Revolution and the Helvetian Republic, imposed by the French in Switzerland, are extensively discussed in his correspondence.

Intimate insights
Apart from above mentioned various topics, Lavater's correspondence reveals much details on personal lives, both on his own and that of others. Intimate insights into the life of Lavater are, amongst others, provided by his letters to his parents, his wife Anna and his children, his close friends (Johann Georg Zimmermann and Johann Jacob Hess, among others), and to his Zürich teachers (Bodmer and Breitinger).
Lavater frequently had to intervene in difficult situations, often associated with great poverty. Much of what was put into words was related to embarrassing personal life circumstances, such as unwanted pregnancies, and had to remain protected by secrecy.

Lavater's estate
Lavater's estate includes manuscripts, documentation on his most important works, autobiographical material and diaries, travelogues, political material, theological treatises, songs, odes, poetry and decorated cards. Since boundaries cannot be easily drawn, filming proceeded broad-minded. Many items from the estate and other collections of the manuscript department besides the actual correspondence have been included in order to offer a complete overview of his correspondence and extensive network.

Index
An alphabetical index of the letters to and from Lavater offers an overview as well as a convenient introduction to his correspondence. It contains additional articles, providing background information on the filmed materials. As this is the first time that Lavater's correspondence is being published, the collection is indispensable for institutes and libraries performing research on any of the wide variety of topics that found their way to Lavater's letters.

Prices from (excl. shipping):

Katalog zur Briefe an Johann Caspar Lavater


The Correspondence of Johann Caspar Lavater, 1741-1801


Bearbeitet von Alexandra Renggli und Marlis Stähli aufgrund des Standortkatalogs und unter Verwendung der Vorarbeiten von Ursula Caflisch-Schnetzler.

Encoded and processed by: Egbert Efting Dijkstra.



Descriptive Summary

Title:The Correspondence of Johann Caspar Lavater, 1741-1801
Creator:Lavater
Dates1741-1801
Extent:1843 microfiches; 21,423 letters
Abstract:This publications contains over 21,423 letters written to Lavater, by Lavater and written to and by family members of Lavater.
Ordernumber:Lav-1
Publisher:IDC Publishers

Bibliothek

Zentralbibliothek Zürich.

Biographie

1741 wird Johann Caspar Lavater in Zürich geboren; er stirbt 1801. Seine Lebenszeit umspannt die für unsere Gegenwart heute so entscheidende Spanne des 18. Jahrhunderts mit Aufklärung und Revolution. Lavater ist ein typisches Kind der Aufklärung und war als solches mit allen Persönlichkeiten aus Wissenschaft - Theologie, Geisteswissenschaften, Naturwissenschaften -, Politik und Kultur in Europa in persönlichem und brieflichem Kontakt.

1756-1762besuchte Lavater das Collegium Carolinum (die Theologie- und Lateinschule am Grossmünster, d.h. an Zwinglis Wirkungsstätte). Lavater schliesst seine Studien ab als Verbi Divini Ministri.1763-1764 führt ihn eine erste Reise über Berlin nach Barth in Schwedisch-Pommern. Aufenthalt bei Johann Joachim Spalding.1768-1773/78 arbeitet Lavater an seinem ersten bedeutenden Werk: „Aussichten in die Ewigkeit“; dieses ist 2001 innerhalb der neuen Ausgabe erschienen. 1771 entsteht das Werk „Geheimes Tagebuch. Von einem Beobachter seiner Selbst“.1772 Beginn der Freundschaft mit Goethe und Herder1775-1778 entsteht das Hauptwerk Lavaters, dem er seinen Weltruhm verdankt: „Physiognomische Fragmente. Zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntnis und Menschenliebe“.7. April 1778 Lavater wird zum Diakon an der Stadtkirche St. Peter gewählt. Der Zustrom zu seinen Predigten war so gross, dass viele Leute sie draussen auf dem Kirchplatz mithörten.1786 entsteht „Nathanaél oder die ebenso gewisse, als unerweisliche Göttlichkeit des Christentums“. Lavater erhält einen Ruf als Prediger nach Bremen. Er reist dorthin, lehnt jedoch ab. Daraufhin wird er zum Pfarrer von St. Peter ernannt.

Lavater mischt sich in die Politik ein und schreibt 1799 „An das helvetische Direktorium“. Vor seinem Haus am Petersplatz wird er angeschossen und erliegt den Spätfolgen der Verwundung am 2. Januar 1801.

Lavaters Bedeutung kommt allein schon aus diesen trockenen Daten zum Ausdruck. Er stand mit allen in Kontakt, die sich in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts Gedanken über den Menschen, seine Geschichte, das Zusammenleben und über die Kräfte über dem Menschen und das Leben nach dem Tod auseinandersetzten.

Die Korrespondenz, die ca. 30‘000 Einheiten umfasst, widerspiegelt dieses dichte Netz der geistigen Auseinandersetzung in Europa vor 1800. Die Briefe sind aber nicht nur als Ergänzung zu Lavaters Werken von Bedeutung, sie umfassen alle seine Lebensbereiche und legen somit auch Zeugnis ab für den Alltag der Zeit.

Die wichtigsten Briefpartner Lavaters wie J.J.Bodmer, J.H. Füssli (Fuseli), Albrecht von Haller, Goethe, Charlotte Stein, Chodowiecki, Basedow, Kaiser Joseph II., Angelika Kauffmann, Wieland u.v.m.

Scope and Content

This publications contains over 21,423 letters written to Lavater, by Lavater and written to and by family members of Lavater.

Ordnung

The collection has been subdivided into the following series and subseries:

Index Terms

Lavater, Johan Casper

Inhalt


A      Briefe an Johann Caspar Lavater

An A - Z

An Unbekannt und Verschieden,


B      Briefe von Johann Caspar Lavater

An A-Z

An Unbekannt und Verschieden


C      Familienbriefe und Briefe dritter aus Lavaters Nachlass,



Inventar zur die Korrespondenz von Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801)


Die Korrespondenz von Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801)


Bearbeitet von Alexandra Renggli und Marlis Stähli aufgrund des Standortkatalogs und unter Verwendung der Vorarbeiten von Ursula Caflisch-Schnetzler

Verzeichniss bearbeited von Egbert Efting Dijkstra und Peter Verhaar.



Kurzbeschreibung

Titel: Die Korrespondenz von Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801)
Hersteller:Lavater, Johann Caspar, 1741-1801
Periode (einschließlich): 1741-1857?
Periode (Majorität): 1741-1801
Extent: 1,843
Sprache(n) Briefe sind auf Deutsch geschrieben.
Abstrakte: Letters addressed to or written by Johann Caspar Lavater, as well as family letters and third party letters from Lavater's estate.
Bestellnummer: LAV-1.
Herausgeber: IDC Publishers

Bibliothek

Die Korrespondenz von Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801) in der Handschriftenabteilung der Zentralbibliothek Zürich

Prof. Dr. Christoph Eggenberger, Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Leiter der Handschriftenabteilung

Es wurde darüber gestritten, wieviele Briefe von und an Johann Caspar Lavater in der Sammlung der Handschriftenabteilung der Zentralbibliothek Zürich liegen, ganz zu schweigen davon, dass sich weitere in anderen öffentlichen und vor allem auch privaten Sammlungen befinden. Jetzt, anhand der Mikrofiche-Edition und der Register konnten wir sie zählen, es sind 21,423 Briefe. So oder so, vom 21. Jahrhundert aus gesehen, sind es unzählige Briefe, nur vergleichbar mit den weitverzweigten Kommunikationsnetzen, wie sie heute auf elektronischem Weg bestehen. Lavater steht als Kommunikationsgenie par excellence vor uns, zudem als herausragender, provozierender Geist des 18. Jahrhunderts. Seine Briefe erreichten alle Destinationen in Europa und von überall her kamen die Briefe nach Zürich und sind so das wohl aussagekräftigste Zeugnis für die Bedeutung dieser Stadt zur Zeit der Aufklärung. Das Briefregister liest sich wie ein Verzeichnis der bedeutenden Persönlichkeiten des 18. Jahrhunderts; wir sind zuversichtlich, dass auch die anonymen Briefschreiber und -empfänger durch die Veröffentlichung der Briefe gelegentlich identifiziert werden können.

Die bedeutende Briefsammlung ist Teil des umfangreichen Nachlasses Johann Caspar Lavater im Familienarchiv. Die Stadtbibliothek Zürich konnte 1850 Teile des Nachlasses erwerben; 1901 schenkten die Erben von Antistes Georg Finsler (1819-1899), einem Urenkel Lavaters, den grössten Teil der bestehenden Sammlung, die anschliessend durch Schenkungen und Ankäufe vermehrt und unter der Signatur FA Lav. Ms. geordnet und erschlossen wurde. 1916 wurde die Stadtbibliothek mit der Kantonsbliothek in der Zentralbibliothek Zürich als Kantons-, Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek zusammengeführt.

An eine eigentliche Gesamtausgabe der Korrespondenz Lavaters ist, wenn überhaupt, sicher aber in absehbarer Zeit nicht zu denken. Die wissenschaftlichen Anstrengungen gelten derzeit der Edition, welche durch die Forschungsstiftung Johann Caspar Lavater und den NZZ Verlag in Zürich betreut wird: "Johann Caspar Lavater, Ausgewählte Werke in historisch-kritischer Ausgabe". Die Herausgeber benutzen die Korrespondenzen und verweisen auf sie; doch auch sie kennen nicht alle Briefe. In der vorliegenden Mikrofiche-Edition von IDC, Leiden, steht dieses interessante Quellenmaterial der internationalen Forschungsgemeinschaft und den interessierten Laien nun zur Verfügung. Es wird seine Bedeutung für die verschiedensten Fachgebiete, für Theologie, Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte, Literatur- und Kunstgeschichte, Pädagogik, Psychologie und Medizingeschichte sowie vor allem für die Kulturgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts erweisen.

Die Zentralbibliothek Zürich schätzt sich glücklich, diesen reichen Schatz damit gehoben zu sehen, und freut sich auf dessen weltweite wissenschaftliche Ausbeute. Die Handschriftenabteilung hofft, von allen Forschungsprojekten und Erkenntnissen Mitteilung zu erhalten und erklärt sich bereit, sie koordinierend weiterzugeben. Ohne die zahlreichen hilfreichen Geister wäre das Projekt nie zustandegekommen; hier kann der grosse Dank nur pars pro toto abgestattet werden, allen voran dem Präsidenten der Johann Caspar Lavater Forschungsstiftung in Zürich, Herrn Dr. Conrad Ulrich, selbst ein Connaisseur des 18. Jahrhunderts, und allen heutigen und früheren Mitgliedern des Stiftungsrats, dem Herausgeberkreis der neuen Werkausgabe mit F. de Capitani (Bern), R. Dellsperger (Bern), G. Ebeling (+, Zürich), H. Holzhey (Zürich), K. Pestalozzi (Basel), M. Sauer (Wiesbaden), G. Schäfer (Nürtingen), A. Schindler (Zürich), Ch. Siegrist (Basel), H. Stickelberger (Zürich), und H. Weigelt (Bamberg) sowie dem Editorenteam Ursula Caflisch-Schnetzler, Martin Hirzel und Bettina Volz-Tobler. Marlis Stähli hat die Vorbereitungen in der Handschriftenabteilung der Zentralbibliothek Zürich getroffen. Ihr gilt ein besonderer Dank und Alexa Renggli; ohne sie wären die Briefe nicht bereit gewesen zur Verfilmung durch Peter Moerkerk von IDC – er ist zu einem Freund des Hauses geworden – und die wertvollen Briefregister könnten die Mikrofiche-Edition nicht hilfreich begleiten.

Biography Notes

General Biography

1741 wird Johann Caspar Lavater in Zürich geboren; er stirbt 1801. Seine Lebenszeit umspannt die für unsere Gegenwart heute so entscheidende Spanne des 18. Jahrhunderts mit Aufklärung und Revolution. Lavater ist ein typisches Kind der Aufklärung und war als solches mit allen Persönlichkeiten aus Wissenschaft - Theologie, Geisteswissenschaften, Naturwissenschaften -, Politik und Kultur in Europa in persönlichem und brieflichem Kontakt.

Lavater mischt sich in die Politik ein und schreibt 1799 „An das helvetische Direktorium“. Vor seinem Haus am Petersplatz wird er angeschossen und erliegt den Spätfolgen der Verwundung am 2. Januar 1801.

Lavaters Bedeutung kommt allein schon aus diesen trockenen Daten zum Ausdruck. Er stand mit allen in Kontakt, die sich in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts Gedanken über den Menschen, seine Geschichte, das Zusammenleben und über die Kräfte über dem Menschen und das Leben nach dem Tod auseinandersetzten.

Die Korrespondenz, die ca. 30‘000 Einheiten umfasst, widerspiegelt dieses dichte Netz der geistigen Auseinandersetzung in Europa vor 1800. Die Briefe sind aber nicht nur als Ergänzung zu Lavaters Werken von Bedeutung, sie umfassen alle seine Lebensbereiche und legen somit auch Zeugnis ab für den Alltag der Zeit.

Die wichtigsten Briefpartner Lavaters wie J.J.Bodmer, J.H. Füssli (Fuseli), Albrecht von Haller, Goethe, Charlotte Stein, Chodowiecki, Basedow, Kaiser Joseph II., Angelika Kauffmann, Wieland u.v.m.

Johann Caspar Lavater im Kreise seiner Korrespondenten

Dr. Ursula Caflisch-Schnetzler, Lavater-Edition, Zürich

In seinen Promemoria zur Lebensgeschichte hält Johann Caspar Lavater 1794 fest, dass Ziel und Zweck seines Lebens gewesen sei, "mit Jesus Christus in eine reelle correspondenzmäb ige Connexion zu kommen". Dem ewig tätigen Schreiber konnte trotz intensiver Suche nach realer Christuserfahrung das zwar nicht gelingen, doch wird aus diesem dezidiert geäusserten Wunsch nach schriftlicher Bindung deutlich, wie zentral in Lavaters Leben der epistolarische Austausch gewesen ist. Welche thematischen Verschiebungen und Personen bezogene Gewichtungen sich während der gut vierzig Jahre Briefwechsel ergeben haben, zeigt die in Lavaters Nachlass in der Zentralbibliothek Zürichliegende Korrespondenz. Die über 1850 Adressaten (ungefähr zwanzig Prozent davon sind Frauen) umfassen beinahe das gesamte geistige und geistliche deutschsprachige Europa der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts.

Johann Caspar Lavater, Sohn aus gutbürgerlichem Zürcher Haus, Theologe, Schriftsteller und ab 1769 auch Pfarrer am Waisenhaus in Zürich, ist kaum ohne die Kenntnis seiner Korrespondenz zu verstehen. Zeigt er sich darin in den frühen sechziger Jahren noch als einen der Ethik verpflichteten jungen Theologen, so wird mit dem Werk Aussichten in die Ewigkeit ab 1768 Lavaters Vorstellung von Christus als dem Urmenschen evident. Sein Briefwechsel schwillt nach dieser ersten grossen Publikation so sehr an, dass – wie sein Biograph Ulrich Hegner in der Lebensbeschreibung festhält – "trotz aller Anstrengungen doch immer zwischen 400-600 unbeantwortete Briefe vor ihm" lagen; darin umkreist er neben Alltäglichem in verschieden Facetten die Thematik der Imitatio Christi.

Angesichts der Fülle des Materials erstaunt es nicht, dass die frühesten herausgegebenen Briefe jene mit berühmten Persönlichkeiten des 18. Jahrhunderts sind, wie Goethe, Wieland, Herder, Basedow, Füssli, Hasenkamp, Jung-Stilling und der russischen Zarin Maria Feodorowna. Die Editionen wie jene der Korrespondenz mit Bonnet, Crugot, Felix und Heinrich Hess zeigen erst seit knapp zwanzig Jahren ein neu entfachtes Interesse an Person und Werk des grossen Zürchers. Mit der seit 2001 begonnenen historisch-kritischen Edition der wichtigsten Werke Johann Caspar Lavaters und mit der Mikrofiche-Edition der Briefe werden die Grundlagen geschaffen, wichtige Desiderate der Forschung in diesem Bereich zu beheben.

Lavater als Briefschreiber

Prof. Dr. Karl Pestalozzi, Universität Basel

Lavaters Lebenselement war es, anderen Menschen face to face zu begegnen und sich mit ihnen über die Dinge zu unterhalten, die ihm wichtig waren. Im direkten Kontakt soll der Zauber seiner Ausstrahlung unwiderstehlich gewesen sein. Das änderte sich jedoch bei räumlicher Distanz zu seinen Freunden und Freundinnen, denn nun mussten Briefe die unmittelbare Begegnung ersetzen. Dieses Bedürfnis, ungeachtet der geographischen Distanz persönliche Nähe zu pflegen, machte Lavater zu einem der fleissigsten Korrespondenten seiner schreibfreudigen Zeit. Nach seinem von Paulus übernommenen Grundsatz "allen alles zu sein" ( 1. Kor. 9,22 ) stellte er sich auf die jeweiligen Korrespondenten ein.

Wegleitend war dabei Lavaters Bemühen, etwas von der spontanen Begegnung aufs Papier zu retten. Das suchte er dadurch zu erreichen, dass er, am Schreibpult stehend, ohne Brouillon, unmittelbar aus dem Herzen, hinschrieb, was ihm zu einer Sache oder als Antwort auf eine Anfrage einfiel. Neben sich hatte er eine Sanduhr, die nach einer Viertelstunde umgedreht werden musste. "Ich kehre mein Viertelstündchen, u. bis es herunter gesandet hat, schreib` ich Eüch, lieben drey, was mir einfällt" (an Wieland, Goethe und Lenz am 27. April 1776 ). Das könnte vor vielen seiner Briefe stehen. Manche wachsen sich allerdings dann doch zu eigentlichen Abhandlungen aus. Seinem Briefstil suchte Lavater dadurch Spontaneität zu bewahren, dass er ihn mündlich erscheinen liess, soweit ihm das in der Schriftsprache – im Alltag sprach er natürlich Zürichdeutsch – möglich war, z.B. durch Elisionen "ist‘s", "erblick`ich" und eine einfache Syntax. Stereotyp sind Lavaters Beteuerungen, dass er nicht zu sagen vermöge, was er eigentlich wolle. Vor allem aber durchsetzte er seine Briefe üppig mit Satzzeichen – gereihten Gedankenstrichen, Doppelpunkten, Frage- und Ausrufezeichen – die signalisieren sollten, dass das Gesagte immer noch einen Hof von Unsagbarem um sich behalte. Als "lavaterisieren" wurde dieses Verfahren bei den Zeitgenossen Mode. Ulrich Bräker erwiderte darauf in seinem Tagebuch: "O, Lavater schreibe nicht – denke, und fühle ...... – – – – – " (7.8.1780).

So persönlich Lavater seine Briefe gestaltete und auf die jeweiligen Adressaten ausrichtete, seine Briefe waren ihm keine blosse Privatsache. Er hatte nichts dagegen, wenn die Adressaten sie herum reichten, er verfuhr mit den Briefen, die er erhielt, nicht anders. Lavaters Korrespondenz war insgesamt Teil eines weitgespannten Kommunikationsnetzes, das die prominenten Angehörigen der Gelehrtenrepublik mit ihrem jeweiligen lokalen Anhang über alle Grenzen der Kleinstaaterei hinweg verband und alle über alles auf dem Laufenden hielt. Seit Gellerts "praktischer Abhandlung von dem guten Geschmacke in Briefen" (1751) hatte sich eine deutsche Briefkultur herausgebildet, an der Lavater auf besonders exzessive Weise teilhatte – und deren Ausklang wir heute beiwohnen.

Umfang und Inhalt

On the Contents of Lavater’s Letters

Prof. Dr. Horst Weigelt, Otto-Friedrich University, Bamberg

Lavater’s very extensive, pan-European correspondence, much like his literary work, features a fascinating variety of topics. It is indisputably dominated by religious matters in the broadest sense, at the heart of which lies the inquiry into manifest transcendental experience in immanence. He corresponded about this with laymen and theologians who were proponents of the possibility of such tangible divine experiences (Jung-Stilling, Susanna Katharina von Klettenberg, Johann Gerhard Hasenkamp, Jacob Hermann Obereit, or Johann Joseph Gaßner), and he also wrote to their vehement challengers (Spalding and Jerusalem). However, Lavater was so obsessed by his "thirst to experience Christ" (Poem, November 1776) that he contacted natural philosophers (Bonnet) and even proponents of animal magnetism (hypnosis).

Literature and poetry constitute the secondary focus of his correspondence. Although he corresponded with almost every important German-speaking author of his time, one need only mention Wieland, Klopstock, Herder, Goethe, Gleim, and Claudius. These letters not only shed light on Lavater’s literary work, but they also provide information about his opinion of contemporary literary trends (esp. Sturm und Drang and Classicism) and important works, such as Klopstock’s "Messias" (1748/1773).

Another focus of his correspondence was painting, especially portrait art. This topic was in many ways connected to what is probably his best-known work, the monumental "Physiognomic Fragments" (Leipzig and Winterthur, 1775-1778), so he was in written contact with many artists; for example, with the famous engravers Chodowiecki and Lips.

Since Lavater was acquainted with or even friends with some of the leading pedagogues of his time (Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Basedow, Campe) and had himself authored a series of children’s and young adult books, pedagogical issues are a common theme in his letters. In particular, this included contemporary reform movements. Among these, he supported philanthropism with some reservations which grew stronger over the years. Thus, in 1776 he held a sermon attended by Basedow to inaugurate the "Philanthropic Institute" in Marschlins (Story of the Inauguration Ceremony of the Philanthropy in Marschlins, Frankfurt am Main, 1776, pg. 30).

Last but not least, he also took up social and political issues. Two topics discussed extensively in many letters were the French Revolution, which he originally welcomed but later severely condemned after the storming of the Tuileries and the infamous September massacres, and the Helvetian Republic imposed by the French in Switzerland in March of 1798. At this time, his patriotism shows through full of nuances, which had already become noticeable during the sensational "Grebel Affair" of 1762.

In addition, the correspondence provides intimate insights into the life of Lavater. His letters to his parents, his wife Anna and his children, his close friends (including Johann Georg Zimmermann and Johann Jacob Heß), and his Zurich teachers (Bodmer and Breitinger) are quite revealing in this respect.

The Estate of J. C. Lavater in the Zentralbibliothek Zürich

Marlis Stähli, M.A., Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Manuscript Department

In addition to manuscripts and materials on his most important works, the estate of J. C. Lavater, which has not yet been filmed, includes autobiographical material and diaries, travelogues, political material on the Grebel affair in Zurich and the Stäfa affair, on the French Revolution, on Lavater’s deportation to Basle, and on the Helvetian Republic, documents about Lavater’s appointment to Bremen, sermons, speeches, and texts from his activities in the parish of St. Peter and at the orphanage in Zurich, theological treatises, reflections, and prayers, contributions to magnetism, filings with the marriage court and the Zurich Board of Censors, physiognomic rules and decisions, songs, odes, poetry, and a multiplicity of verses and sayings on hundreds, if not thousands of elaborately framed cards, collected in sets, cases and series of several volumes for entire manuscript libraries of thoughts and of friendship.

In addition, Lavater makes smooth transitions between different types of works with dedications and salutations to specific individuals, thematic compilations of letters with the character of a complete work, speeches in the form of letters, travelogues and letters from his trips, addressed mnemonics, epistolary poems, and similar texts which were also often circulated, and his actual correspondence. Since boundaries cannot easily be drawn, filming proceeded ambitiously and included many items from the estate besides the actual letters in order to offer the most complete possible overview of his correspondence, his fascinating networks of correspondents, and his lengthy relationships. Apart from this, letters from and to Lavater are included from various other holdings stored in the Manuscript Department (FA Lav. Ms. 15-208, among others).

The correspondence comprises more than a fourth of the entire estate and forms an important focus with its 99 volumes and portfolios. When it was first arranged, it was separated into two series in which the letters to Lavater (FA Lav. Ms. 501-535) and the letters from Lavater (FA Lav. Ms. 551-587) were bound into anthologies at the beginning of the 20th century. In this form, however, the manuscripts could not be copied without damage, which suggested the need for integral backup filming. Unlike in the majority of estates, an astonishing number of letters from Lavater himself are preserved. More than 9,100 letters from Lavater and over 12,300 letters to Lavater have been conserved, not counting the numerous copies and excerpts. Apparently he had his own letters copied when he did not copy them himself as he did early on, which makes the complete correspondence a real literary treasure.

The many anonymous letters, copies, excerpts, and duplicates were not bound together with the letters, nor were the fragments and the correspondence which was acquired over time. Both forms, the anonymous letters and the copies and excerpts, are characteristic of Lavater’s correspondence. Much of what was put into words was related to embarrassing personal life circumstances and should remain protected by secrecy. Lavater frequently had to intervene in unwanted pregnancies or to help in other difficult situations, often associated with great poverty. On the other hand, these repeated copies promoted the extensive communication network. These letters are in loose bundles in the sequential portfolios FA Lav. Ms. 588-592 (from Lavater) and FA Lav. Ms. 593-599 (to Lavater).

However, over time it has become evident that there is a considerable number of the copies and excerpts which have only been handed down here and not in the anthologies. Several senders or recipients could also be identified, and donations and acquisitions yielded correspondence partners who were already represented in the anthologies. As a result, the letters of a specific person which were of course already included in a manuscript site catalog were not recorded to be in the same place, but were rather often spread out and needed to be painstakingly pieced together. In order to help with this task, an alphabetical index of the letters to and from Lavater was developed in parallel to the filming based on the preparatory work of Ursula Caflisch, who generously made her first computerized records available. This now offers both a good overview as well as a convenient introduction to Lavater’s correspondence. An additional, separate index includes the group of letters from Lavater’s family circle (FA Lav. Ms. 600-606).

Organization and Arrangement

This archive is arranged in the following three series, described in three separate indexes written in German:

Selected Search Terms

Persons

Lavater, Johann Caspar, 1741-1801

Topics

Religious Thought.
Eschatology.
Ethics.
Conduct of life.
Accruals

Although we did successfully allocate an impressive number of letters, a lot of questions could not be answered within the time available. Our priority has been to make the complete correspondence held at the manuscript department - as well as the numerous copies/duplicates and excerpts/extracts - available for research as soon as possible. The manuscript department is, with regard to the desirable flow of information, always thankful for additional information, and is always happy to respond to inquiries. The indices are maintained and updated internally.

Other Finding Aids

Bibliography

Additional information about the collections (cf. the home page of the Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Spezialsammlungen/Handschriftenabteilung, www.zb.unizh.ch):

Particularly, we would like to point out the historical-critical edition of selected works of Lavater that is currently being worked on, www.zb.unizh.ch:

A number of letters in Lavater's microfilmed correspondence provide an interesting insight into his contacts in the world of art, publishing and collectors. The catalog of the Austrian National Library at Vienna provides the best overview of Lavater's famous Graphic Cabinet, which had already been acclaimed during his lifetime. The library's portrait collection contains almost the entire cabinet, which, unfortunately, had to be sold after Lavater's death, with its more than 22,000 drawings, watercolours, prints and miniature paintings, works of art from the 16 -18 centuries, amongst others from Christoph Murer, Domenico Tintoretto, Daniel Chodowiecki, portraits and silhouettes, primarily by Swiss artists such as Johann Heinrich Lips, Johann Pfenninger and Johann Rudolf Schellenberg, as well as physiognomic study sheets, cf. www.onb.ac.at/sammlungen/bildarchiv/projekte/porlav/: Mraz, Gerda (Hrsg.), Das Kunstkabinett von Johann Caspar Lavater, Wien 1999.

Related Materials

Introductory Note

Related MaterialsThe Letter Index

The index of Johann Caspar Lavater's correspondence consists of a sender register, a recipient register, and a register of family letters including third party letters from Lavater's estate:

  • Register of letters to Johann Caspar Lavater (A-Z and unknown) FA Lav. Ms. 501-535a / 593-599 a.o.
  • Register of letters from Johann Caspar Lavater (A-Z and unknown) FA Lav. Ms. 551-587 / 588-592 a.o.
  • Register of family letters, including third party letters from Lavater's estateFA Lav. Ms. 600-606
    • Letters to and from Luise Lavater [Daughter]
    • Letters to and from Anna Lavater-Schinz [Wife]
    • Letters to and from Johann Heinrich Lavater [Son]
    • Letters to and from Anna/Nette Gessner-Lavater [Daughter]
    • Letters to and from Georg Gessner [Son-in-Law]
    • Letters to Johanna Grob-Gessner and Johann Caspar Grob
    • [Daughter and son-in-law of Anna/Nette and Georg Gessner]
    • Third party letters from Lavater's estate
    • Correspondence regarding Lavater's estate

The registers follow the order of the appendix of the old, handwritten repository catalog that was created at the beginning of the 20th century by a librarian of the Zentralbibliothek Zürich after Lavater's entire correspondence had been alphabetized and bound in thick volumes. It is sorted by senders (FA Lav. Ms. 501-535 to Lavater) and recipients (FA Lav. Ms. 551-587 from Lavater). This practice, which was common at the time and primarily used to ensure that documents were safely stored and protected from loss, had the disadvantage that the many letters of anonymous or unknown persons, the numerous copies, excerpts and duplicates could not be integrated in the existing collection if their sender or their relationship had at some stage been established. Also it wasn't possible to integrate new entries that had been acquired as gifts or through purchase; they had to be added as loose convolutes. (FA Lav. Ms. 588-592 and supplements FA Lav. Ms. 589a from Lavater / FA Lav. Ms. 593-599 and supplements FA Lav. Ms. 535a to Lavater).

In terms of the old repository catalog, which followed the order on the shelves, i.e. the sequence of the shelf marks, this meant that the alphabet always had to start over again or was not taken into account at all for any group sorted by formal criterias or added at a later stage that contained: Letters only signed with Christian names, initials or without any signature at all (fromL 588, toL 596, 597.1), dated or undated letters (fromL 589.1-2, toL 597.2-3), groups that were sorted according to recognized criteria such as fragments (fromL 589.3, toL 597.4), copies/duplicates (fromL 591), excerpts (fromL 592, toL 593-595) or circular correspondence (toL 598.2), letters of a particular year (fromL 589i: 1779, fromL 590a: 1786, toL 597.3: 1778), to a particular person (fromL 589I to the brother Diethelm Lavater), of different provenance (fromL 589k correspondence with, among others, Georg Christian Sigel / fromL 590 and toL 599 from the archive of St. Peter's Church in Zurich) or with the same thematic background (fromL 589.4 and toL 598.1 Bremen: Letters on the occasion of Lavater's appointment).

To ensure that all of the letters from a specific person could be easily and quickly found, the old shelf list was converted to an index with two through alphabets (A: senders, B: recipients). It would otherwise not have been possible to create an overview of all the letters, copies, excerpts and duplicates under the name of the person concerned. The repository catalog's basic structure remains recognizable because the main entries follow the shelf marks in the volumes, and all of the shelf marks that represent further letters from the same person are indented. The first part of the shelf marks, i.e. FA Lav. Ms., had to be omitted due to the lack of space.

The following abbreviations and marks have been used in the indices:

Original shelf marks and letter numbers

The shelf marks consist of a base number, e.g. fromL 562, or, in the case of loose convolutes, including one place after the dot, e.g. fromL590.6, supplemented by an internal numbering system (fromL 562.24; fromL 690.6.12) that corresponds to the pencil numbering on the letters (generally in the middle of the page's top margin). In the registers, the internal number always indicates the first letter from or to a specific person, and helps locate their correspondence on the microfiches, i.e. the first letter from Gleim to Lavater is letter number 24 in the volume FA Lav. Ms. 562 and also on the corresponding microfiche.

Main entries

With a few exceptions, the main entries for people are alphabetically sorted by last name, or, if the last name is missing, by Christian names. This is followed by information about the place the letter was sent from or the recipient's address (in the case of several places there is a note "etc."), the year or period and the number of letters. The indication o.J. (without year) has been used only for single letters. For larger convolutes, the undated letters are either contained in the stated period or come before or after it.

If information about a letter's sender or recipient is missing, the letters are classified by the place they were sent from or to, or by any other place that is mentioned in the letters (Augsburg: Anonymous, Bern: Stapfer's brother-in-law). If several people are involved or if a specific event is concerned, the letters are classified under the appropriate term (deportation, physiognomy, Stäfner affair). The place or contact address may enable one or the other of the numerous anonymous or unknown correspondents to be found in the future.

Copies/duplicates, excerpts, fragments, supplements

A large number of letters, in particular those from Lavater, are copies from that time, whereby the number of copies and excerpts, supplements and fragments additional to the main entries that exist in this form only is specified in square brackets [ ], so far as it was possible. That means that there are 55 letters from Hartmann to Lavater in FA Lav. Ms. 511 - 1772-75/55 - as well as 24 excerpts in FA Lav. Ms. 593, five of them only as excerpts and/or duplicates - 1773-75/24 [5] -, i.e. preserved in addition and not among the 55 letters in the main entry.

The terms copies or excerpts refer primarily to the way in which the convolutes have been gathered. Copies are generally understood as verbatim duplicates, excerpts as longer or shorter extracts. However, some original letters can still be found in the copy portfolios and complete duplicate letters in the excerpt portfolios.

In principle, there are no notes about the letters' characteristics. The letters to Lavater are largely autographic, however, a certain number have probably been dictated. On the other hand, Lavater's own letters are for the most part duplicates considering that they were copied before they left the house. Although Lavater wrote a lot himself in his younger days, he soon employed scribes who, at times, imitated his writing and are not easy to distinguish from each other (toL 524.288, 597.1.26 and 32.5 Lisette Rordorf / toL 599.11 and 35.5 Magdalena Kitt). For those who would like to compare Lavater's autographs, the more than 200 letters to his wife that were written over more than 3 decades provide a good overview of the different forms his writing took.

Numerous letters were duplicated or pieces of them extracted more than once and used in other contexts, such as in collections on a specific theme that were put together for a particular person (fromL 75.1 on reconciliation, to Cajus von Reventlow / fromL 75.2 copy with supplements / fromL 75a with a dedication to Georg Gessner), or duplicates of letters from and to Lavater that were included in the „Handbibliothek für Freunde" (fromL 208.2-5 to Jacques Partridge). The senders and recipients often remained anonymous or were only represented by initials. Starting from the microfiches or the printed edition of the „Handbibliothek für Freunde," the latter can be assigned to the senders of the original letters that had been entered in the registers A and B.

Addenda, inserts, references

Notes, inserts and additional addressees are listed to demonstrate the wide ranging connections and the impressive communication network that characterized Lavater's correspondence, and made a number of references indispensable. Persons or works that were mentioned in the letters and in particular in those from and to unknown, were taken into consideration (though only in part - not systematically - and provided that the effort was justifiable) with regard to the future identification of the correspondents, which, due to time constraints, we were only able to do in certain cases. The references lead to the corresponding main entries in the area of the actual register (toL or fromL).

To obtain a complete overview of a person's correspondence, one must always look in all three of the registers, i.e. through the letters that a person wrote to Lavater (A) and/or received from Lavater (B), as well as through the different parts of the register of the family letters and third party letters (C).

Aristocrats are, with a few exceptions, listed by their Christian names and are referenced by their last name. As woman correspondents have not always been integrated in the different volumes by the same last name, references had to be made for those who are listed in register A under their maiden name and in register B under their spouse's name.

Letters from and to unknown

The numerous portfolios with letters to anonymous and unknown persons pose a particular problem (FA Lav. Ms. 588-599, mainly copies). In some of the letters, initials are used as the form of address or as the signature. In others, the initials or names were entered in the margins at an early stage and in part by Lavater himself. Several of these entries could be ascertained over time and are accompanied with notes about the name of the person or place. In order to include these letters in the total context, they were integrated in the main register (à Alphabet). The others are listed under unknown at the end of A-Z based on the sequence of the shelf marks. To make things easier and to facilitate searching through the microfiches, each of the letters, copies, excerpts or fragments to which additional information applies -such as position, profession, mentioned persons or content-related references that are easily visible without further research- are listed under the main entry.

Letters from Lavater's works estate and other holdings

Beside the actual correspondence, other letters have been included in the microfiche publication. These concern letters that are contained in Lavater's works estate (FA Lav. Ms. 15-208), the Lavater family archive and other Zurich family archives (FA Lav. 1741, 1743, 1768, FA Escher vom Glas, FA Hess, FA Hirzel, FA Nüscheler) or stored in holdings such as Emil Bebler's autograph collection, the letter collection of the Zentralbibliothek, the letters to Johann Jakob Bodmer, the collection groups of the former Municipal Library (Ms. A, E, M, V) and the Zentralbibliothek (Ms. Z), as well as the Lavateriana of the Hanselmann collection that was received as a gift (Lav. H 1001-1002). The concordance provides information about the addressees and the fiche-numbers. As all other letters, these letters were integrated in the registers alphabetically or were listed under unknown.

Microfiches

The microfiches follow the sequence of the shelf marks of the correspondence volumes and portfolios (to and from Lavater and unknown). The remaining collections follow the letters from Lavater's works estate in alphabetical order: FA Lav. Ms. 15-208, Autogr. Bebler - Ms. Z II 3023, with a few addenda: FA Lav. Ms. 26 - FA Nüscheler 468a and Ms. V 411. The family letters, which have their own register (C), are at the end (FA Lav. Ms. 600-606).

All of the information was researched as carefully as possible within an acceptable amount of time. This information is, however, generally to be understood as a reference and has to be checked in each specific case using the microfiches.


Container List


Briefe an Johann Caspar Lavater

An A - Z

An Unbekannt und Verschieden,


Briefe von Johann Caspar Lavater

An A-Z

An Unbekannt und Verschieden


Familienbriefe und Briefe dritter aus Lavaters Nachlass.

Briefe an Luise Lavater (Tochter): Von A-Z.,

Briefe von Luise Lavater (Tochter): An A-Z und Unbekannt.,

Briefe an Anna Lavater-Schinz (Ehefrau): Von A-Z und Unbekannt.,

Briefe von Anna Lavater-Schinz (Ehefrau): An A-Z und Unbekannt.,

Briefe an und von Joh. Heinrich Lavater (Sohn) u.a.,

Briefe von und an Anna/Nette Gessner-Lavater (Tochter).,

Briefe von und an Georg Gessner (Schwiegersohn).,

Briefe an Johanna Grob-Gessner und Joh. Caspar Grob.,

Briefe dritter Aus Lavaters Nachlass,



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