Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Schlegel, August Wilhelm von

SCHLEGEL, AUGUST WILHELM VON (schlā'gel), German author, born in Hanover, Prussia, Sept. 8, 1767. He was Professor of Literature in the University of Bonn. His most notable works in literary and art criticism are: “Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature” (3 vols. 1809-1811), translated into nearly all the languages of western Europe; “On the Theory and History of the Plastic Arts” (1827). In the field of Orientalism he wrote “Reflections on the Study of the Asiatic Languages” (1832), and prepared editions of several Indian classics. He translated many of the plays of Shakespeare and made the English dramatist a German classic. He translated Dante, Calderon, Camoens, and other foreign masters of literature. He wrote sonnets, an elegy, “Rome” (1812), and other poems. He died in Bonn, Germany, May 12, 1845.