[Goethe,J.W.Von]. — Die Leiden des jungen Werthers. Zweyte ächte Auflage. Erster Theil & Zweyter Theil. [Complete 2-volume set of the second edition].

Leipzig, in der Weygandschen Buchhandlung, 1775. 2 vols in 1. 224 pp. Copperplate vignettes on both title pages, 2 head- and 2 tailpieces. Contemp. full marbled calf, dec. blindstamped spine with red letterpiece. 18mo.# Goedeke IV/3,165. - The official second edition of this epistolary novel, published in 1774 by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. A revised edition appeared in 1787. It was one of the most significant novels of the 'Sturm und Drang' period in German literature and exerted an influence on the subsequent Romantic movement. Goethe, then 24 years old, completed "Werther" in five and a half weeks of intensive writing, between January and March 1774. The work instantly established him as one of the most prominent international literary celebrities and remains one of his best-known works. The book became an immediate international bestseller, arguably the first in the history of literature. It gave rise to a phenomenon known as "Werther fever" (Werther-Fieber), which saw young men across Europe begin to dress in the style described for Werther in the novel. A wide array of spin-off products even emerged, including prints, decorated Meissen porcelain, and, remarkably, a perfume. Napoleon Bonaparte regarded '" Werther" as one of the great works of European literature; in his youth, he wrote a monologue inspired by Goethe, and he carried a copy of "Werther" with him during his Egyptian campaign. Thomas Carlyle coined the term "Wertherism" to describe the self-absorbed, inward-looking attitude of the era, an attitude epitomized by this phenomenon. - - The book is also said to have led to some of the first known instances of copycat suicide, a phenomenon now referred to as the "Werther effect"; in these cases, individuals would dress like Werther, even using pistols similar to the one he used, and the book was frequently discovered at the scene of the suicide. Rüdiger Safranski, a modern biographer of Goethe, dismisses the Werther effect as "merely a persistent rumor." Nevertheless, this aspect of "Werther fever" caused concern among the authorities: both the novel and the associated style of dress were banned in Leipzig in 1775, and the novel was also prohibited in Denmark and Italy. [Source: Wikipedia].