The German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ((1749-1832) was first introduced to Shakespeare during the early 1770s by the philosopher and poet Johann Gottfried von Herder. Shakespeare’s influence had reached Germany in the late 1600s, and translations and adaptations of individual plays were well-known. Goethe’s second novel, Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship), published 1795-6, depicts the German reception of Shakepeare in the 18th century, as the protagonist is introduced to his works, and engages in lengthy discussions about the playwright. Goethe’s work was first translated into English by Thomas Carlyle, in 1824, and this selection of passages from that work was produced in 1904.