Writers Edition Homage to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Limited Edition 88 Fountain Pen M

At the centre of the intellectual awakening of the 18th century was one man in particular whose written word has stood the test of time: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Polymath, giant of German literature, lawyer, government minister, theatre director as well as prodigious collector and naturalist, he was in every way a revolutionary, intent on pushing back the boundaries of perception and learning.The philosophical depth of Faust, the lyrical subtlety of his poetry and the breadth of scientific exploration behind his colour theory and botanical treatises were of epochal significance and testify in their variety and far-reaching influence to Goethe’s genius. As a poet and statesman, advisor, friend and lover, he left an indelible mark on the world around him and serves to this day as a source of inspiration and vision. With the support of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar and the Goethe National Museum it houses, Montblanc is dedicating its Writers Edition Homage to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Limited Edition 88 to this universal genius, focusing especially on Goethe the collector.The inspiration for the historical silhouette of the edition is taken from Goethe’s prized writing instrument with which he committed to paper all his knowledge, insights and the fruits of his seemingly boundless poetic imagination. Writing was his lifeblood. The largest edition of his complete works and writings currently comprises 40 volumes, containing around 3000 poems alone. His drama Götz von Berlichingen was published anonymously in 1773, but just one year later The Sorrows of Young Werther written in less than four weeks, catapulted the 25-year-old lawyer to overnight fame. His reputation did not go unnoticed in Weimar where he was later no longer only seen as a renowned poet and philosopher but also acted as a statesman and reformer of the economy and finance. But Goethe was reluctant to compromise when balancing his roles as poet and politician. Dissatisfied due to a feeling of creative stagnation, he decided to undertake a tour of Italy in 1786 – incognito. It was there that he felt a new sense of spiritual freedom unlike anything he had experienced in his homeland. He discovered the ancient treasures of Rome and natural phenomena he had previously been unaware of.During his 18-month tour, which he later described in his Italian Journey, Goethe climbed Vesuvius, still an active volcano, several times and collected a wealth of objects for his studies of nature, including a pine cone which he kept both as a wonder of nature itself and as a reminder of the antique four-metre high bronze pine cone in the Vatican. Borrowing from the aesthetic of the natural model, the cap top appears to be clad in an arrangement of walnut wood ‘scales’. The barrel is crafted from the same exquisite wood to resemble the special cabinets Goethe had made to house his collection of over 55,000 art treasures and natural specimens amassed on his travels. Among his souvenirs was also his ‘first love affair in Rome’, a colossal bust of the goddess Juno. Her features, cast in miniature in solid gold and flanked by the wings of a statue of Victoria from his personal art collection, are the eye-catching centrepiece of the writing instrument. The cone is adorned with Goethe’s signature as well as an inlay of lava stone which was popular in Italy at the time. Goethe’s stay in the country was extremely rewarding, and the year of his return, 1788, inspired Montblanc to limit this Writers Edition to precisely 88 pieces.During his travels around Italy, Goethe rediscovered his creative vein and worked on the dramas Iphigenia in Tauris, Egmont and Torquato Tasso, but his studies of nature and his scientific research were to take up ever more of his time. In old age, he even classed his scientific achievements as more valuable than his poetic ones. His passion for knowledge led him to the study of optics and anatomy, biology and geology. The clip in the shape of a leaf honours his extraordinary studies in the field of morphology and specifically his proposition of an archetypal plant form, an idea he even transposed into verse in his didactic love poem The Metamorphosis of Plants. His Theory of Colours, however, is considered his finest scientific study which opened up an entirely new perspective on the essence of colour. Goethe liked to demonstrate his discoveries about the effects of colour using a set of drinking glasses he had commissioned in Carlsbad. They were specially cut in such a way as to change their hue depending on the incidence of light. Taking this as an inspiration, Montblanc honours Goethe as a scientist and philosopher by crowning the cap with a dome of crystal. This is adorned with the Montblanc emblem, encircled by motifs taken from Goethe’s Carlsbad glasses and his Juno sculpture. In 1808 Goethe finally completed a work which is one of the most frequently translated and performed dramas in the world – Faust. A Tragedy. Goethe devoted almost his entire life to the figure of Faust. Goethe himself praised a series of lithographs by painter Eugène Delacroix, commissioned as illustrations for the French translation. His depiction of the first meeting between Mephistopheles and Faust is recalled by the artfully engraved scene on the solid Au 750 gold nib, while the lettering and the date, 1790, above it denote the publication in Leipzig of Faust. A Fragment. Fittingly, the nib – the soul of every writing instrument – thus pays tribute to surely the greatest German poet who ever lived.