The reflections on art and literature which Goethe produced throughout his life are the rewarding documents of a mind of extraordinary awareness and perception. They are the premise and corollary of his work as poet, novelist and man of science. No one interested in the history of European literary criticism or of art, archaeology or the theater can afford to remain ignorant of these remarkable essays. The contribution of such essays as "On Gothic Architecture", "On the Laocoon" and "Shakespeare: a Tribute" to our understanding of the aesthetic theories of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century is today of immeasurable importance. Several items in the present volume appear for the first time unabridged and in fresh translations.John Gearey is Professor of German at the City College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the author of various works on Heinrich von Kleist and Goethe. His most recent book is entitled Goethe's Faust. The Making of Part I.Ellen von Nardroff is Professor of German at Upsala College. She has co-authored several textbooks on beginning and intermediate German.Ernest H. von Nardroff is Professor of German at the City College of the City University of New York. His main field of research is Austrian literature.