Central Index of Digitized Imprints

Project Description

The heterogenous body of translations by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing - approx. 7.000 pages of print - encompasses about forty titles: plays and essays, narrative, fables, history, religious and edifying literature, treatises concerning dramaturgy and acting and many others. To date the translations have only been edited in part, although their importance for a proper understanding of Lessing's entire work is considerable.

The aim of the project carried out in co-operation by the HAB and the Lessing-Akademie is to assemble all translations by Lessing in a machine-readable form and provide a parallel access to the French, English, Spansh, etc. original texts, which are for the most part not readily accessible. The texts will be tagged according to TEI (Version P5). Indexes will be added for names, titles and - in a condensed form - concepts (approx. 250), providing information on the theological, philosophical and aesthetic discourses of the 18th century.

The digital edition will be published in a portal on the internet. This portal will also include databases with the bibliography of Lessing's writings taken from Lachmann-Muncker, a concordance of Lessing editions and be able to be expanded to include other references showing of Lessing's influence on his contemporaries.

Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Contact Lessing-Akademie: Marcus Baumgarten
Contact HAB: Dr. Thomas Stäcker
Tel. 05331-808119, Fax -165