David Farrell Krell is Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University. He has written many books, including the SUNY Press titles Archeticture: Ecstasies of Space, Time, and the Human Body; Nietzsche: A Novel; and Son of Spirit: A Novel.

"The centerpiece of this unique volume consists of the 17 known letters written by Gontard to Hölderlin … [s]ensitively translated here for the first time into English... As the volume progresses … one comes to appreciate the insight and stimulation produced by the creative tension between the two editors." — CHOICE"This is a highly original piece of work. At once novel, literary criticism, historical meditation, literary history and an ironization of all of the above, it shows the author's considerable erudition in an impressive number of fields alongside a wonderful gift for writing in the voices of others." — Carol Jacobs, author of In the Language of Walter Benjamin"The book is full of unexpected flashes of recognition that really make the reader think about the key issues at stake: love, secrets, commitments, passion, imagination, anxiety, reading, editing, scholarship, settling accounts, madness, identity, influence, intimacy, necromancy, narcissism, self, and other … It provides intrigue, varying degrees and aspects of intensity, unexpected humor, nuance, revelation, and ultimately the recalcitrance of the readerly-scholarly desire to know the secrets of lovers, the secrets of Love." — Jonathan Steinwand, Concordia College

• FOREWORDby David Farrell Krell TRANSLATORS’ PREFACEDiptych TRANSLATORS’ INTRODUCTIONThe Gontard-Hölderlin Correspondence LETTERS FROM DIOTIMA TO HÖLDERLIN FICTIONAL VOICESJohanna Gok, Hölderlin’s MotherJacob ("Cobus") Gontard, Diotima’s HusbandFriedrich Heinrich ("Henry") Gontard, Diotima’s and Cobus’s SonSophie LaRoche, a NovelistDimitri Tsiboulis, a Gardener TRANSLATORS’ AFTERWORDChildren of Penury About the Translators

David Farrell Krell is Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University. He has written many books, including the SUNY Press titles Archeticture: Ecstasies of Space, Time, and the Human Body; Nietzsche: A Novel; and Son of Spirit: A Novel.

"The centerpiece of this unique volume consists of the 17 known letters written by Gontard to Hölderlin … [s]ensitively translated here for the first time into English... As the volume progresses … one comes to appreciate the insight and stimulation produced by the creative tension between the two editors." — CHOICE"This is a highly original piece of work. At once novel, literary criticism, historical meditation, literary history and an ironization of all of the above, it shows the author's considerable erudition in an impressive number of fields alongside a wonderful gift for writing in the voices of others." — Carol Jacobs, author of In the Language of Walter Benjamin"The book is full of unexpected flashes of recognition that really make the reader think about the key issues at stake: love, secrets, commitments, passion, imagination, anxiety, reading, editing, scholarship, settling accounts, madness, identity, influence, intimacy, necromancy, narcissism, self, and other … It provides intrigue, varying degrees and aspects of intensity, unexpected humor, nuance, revelation, and ultimately the recalcitrance of the readerly-scholarly desire to know the secrets of lovers, the secrets of Love." — Jonathan Steinwand, Concordia College

• FOREWORDby David Farrell Krell TRANSLATORS’ PREFACEDiptych TRANSLATORS’ INTRODUCTIONThe Gontard-Hölderlin Correspondence LETTERS FROM DIOTIMA TO HÖLDERLIN FICTIONAL VOICESJohanna Gok, Hölderlin’s MotherJacob ("Cobus") Gontard, Diotima’s HusbandFriedrich Heinrich ("Henry") Gontard, Diotima’s and Cobus’s SonSophie LaRoche, a NovelistDimitri Tsiboulis, a Gardener TRANSLATORS’ AFTERWORDChildren of Penury About the Translators

David Farrell Krell is Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University. He has written many books, including the SUNY Press titles Archeticture: Ecstasies of Space, Time, and the Human Body; Nietzsche: A Novel; and Son of Spirit: A Novel.

"The centerpiece of this unique volume consists of the 17 known letters written by Gontard to Hölderlin … [s]ensitively translated here for the first time into English... As the volume progresses … one comes to appreciate the insight and stimulation produced by the creative tension between the two editors." — CHOICE"This is a highly original piece of work. At once novel, literary criticism, historical meditation, literary history and an ironization of all of the above, it shows the author's considerable erudition in an impressive number of fields alongside a wonderful gift for writing in the voices of others." — Carol Jacobs, author of In the Language of Walter Benjamin"The book is full of unexpected flashes of recognition that really make the reader think about the key issues at stake: love, secrets, commitments, passion, imagination, anxiety, reading, editing, scholarship, settling accounts, madness, identity, influence, intimacy, necromancy, narcissism, self, and other … It provides intrigue, varying degrees and aspects of intensity, unexpected humor, nuance, revelation, and ultimately the recalcitrance of the readerly-scholarly desire to know the secrets of lovers, the secrets of Love." — Jonathan Steinwand, Concordia College

• FOREWORDby David Farrell Krell TRANSLATORS’ PREFACEDiptych TRANSLATORS’ INTRODUCTIONThe Gontard-Hölderlin Correspondence LETTERS FROM DIOTIMA TO HÖLDERLIN FICTIONAL VOICESJohanna Gok, Hölderlin’s MotherJacob ("Cobus") Gontard, Diotima’s HusbandFriedrich Heinrich ("Henry") Gontard, Diotima’s and Cobus’s SonSophie LaRoche, a NovelistDimitri Tsiboulis, a Gardener TRANSLATORS’ AFTERWORDChildren of Penury About the Translators