Marriage a la Mode is the most famous of William Hogarth's 'progresses' or series paintings, the story of a marriage de convenance and its unhappy consequences in fashionable 18th-century London. Contemporaries relished teasing out the meaning of all its rich detail, and the most extensive and popular of all the commentaries on the artist's accomplishment: was that of the witty, many-sided German, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. Brilliantly translated, thoroughly annotated, this text is accompanied by the earlier and less-known commentary by Hogarth's friend, the French-Swiss enameller Jean-Andre Rouquet, and by a selection of Lichtenberg's remarks (in letters to friends) on his purposes and problems in interpreting Hogarth's work. Included also is another and very rare 'explanation' of the plates, an anonymous 1746 pamphlet titled Marriage A-la-Mode-An Humorous Tale, in Six Cantos. A foreword on Lichtenberg, and an historical essay on Hogarth's work by Mr. Coley, supply necessary background on artist and commentary. Of Hogarth's greatness there is little that need be said. But it is worth noting that, of his several 'progresses' or 'modern moral subjects', only Marriage a la Mode centres on the upper levels of British society - the aristocracy and the mercantile class.

"Der Witz ist der Finder und der Verstand der Beobachter" (S. 113). So pointierte Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Professor der reinen und angewandten Mathematik in Gottingen (seit 1770), Astronom, dann Professor der Physik mit einem beriihm- ten Kolleg in Experimentalphysik, Entdecker der Lichtenbergschen Entladungsfi- guren (1778), Gutachter in Blitzableiter- und Maschinenfragen, popuHirwissen- schaftlicher Schriftsteller, scharfsinniger Spotter und Kritiker, verborgener Dichter zwischen Aufklarung, Sturm und Drang und beginnendem romantischen Idealis- mus. Er verstand Witz viel umfassender als heute: als Verschmelzung weitgetrenn- ter Bereiche zu einer originellen Einheit, im naturwissenschaftlich/technischen Bereich etwa Salpeter und Schwefel zu SchieBpulver (S. 189) oder - schon von der Naturwissenschaft weg: Hoftitel und Blitzableiter zu "Koniglicher Hofblitzableiter - ein Titel" (S. 68). Das ist einer seiner vielen Aphorismen, zu seinen Lebzeiten unbekannt, aber entscheidend fUr seinen Nachruhm als groBer Dichter deutscher Sprache. Er selbst nannte diese Aphorismen "weggeworfene" Bemerkungen, "Pfennigwahrheiten" - nur ein einziges Mal verwendet er selbst den Ausdruck Aphorismus. Er schmierte diese Bemerkungen in seine "Sudelbiicher" wie die englischen Kaufleute ihre kurzen privaten Notizen: "Die Kaufleute haben ihr Wastebook (Sudelbuch, Klitterbuch glaube ich im Deut- schen), darin tragen sie von Tag zu Tag alles ein was sie verkaufen und kaufen, alles durch einander ohne Ordnung, aus dies em wird es in das Journal getragen, wo alles mehr systematisch steht, und endlich kommt es in den Leidger at double entrance nach der italianischen Art buchzuhalten. In dies em wird mit jedem Mann besonders abgerechnet und zwar erst als Debitor und dann als Creditor gegeniiber.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Vermischte Schriften ...; Volume 5 Of Vermischte Schriften; Georg Christoph Lichtenberg Georg Christoph Lichtenberg C. Kaulfuss u. C. Armbruster, 1817

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Vermischte Schriften ...; Volume 3 Of Vermischte Schriften; Georg Christoph Lichtenberg Georg Christoph Lichtenberg C. Kaulfuss u. C. Armbruster, 1817

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Vermischte Schriften ...; Volume 4 Of Vermischte Schriften; Georg Christoph Lichtenberg Georg Christoph Lichtenberg C. Kaulfuss u. C. Armbruster, 1817 Literary Criticism; European; German; Literary Criticism / European / German