W. H. Auden and Goethe

I went through my Johann Wolfgang von  Goethe phase some time ago. But after reading Edith Wharton's memoir, A Backward Glance, I wanted to return to Goethe's Italian Journey. I have the paperback but I can tell by its pristine condition that neither I nor its previous owner ever opened it. (Yes, this is a another gem I found at Half Price Discount Books.)

I opened the book and I about fell out of my chair. W. H. Auden and Elizabeth Mayer translated Italian Journey. W. H. Auden has always intrigued me but I have read little of his works. But next to my bed is his Lectures on Shakespeare, a classic, which I come back to often.

This is what Penguin Classics has to say about about W. H. Auden: W. H. Auden was born in 1907 and went to Oxford University, where he became Professor of Poetry from 1956 to 1960. After the publication of his Poems in 1930, he became the acknowledged leader of the 'thirties poets'. His poetic output was prolific, and he also wrote verse plays in collaboration with Christopher Isherwood, with whom he visited China. In 1946 he became a US citizen. He died in 1973.

His collaborator on translating Italian Journey was Elizabeth Mayer, born in Mecklenburg in 1884 and emigrated to the US in 1936. In collaboration with Louise Bogan she translated Werther and Elective Affinities.