ABSTRACT
Goethe’s work on natural science is only ‘interrupted for a few days’, as he notes in his Annals. He is referring in the first instance to his Farberilehre which Cotta, still with his eye on Faust, is now prepared to publish, though undoubtedly with some misgivings. But Goethe does not neglect his University, and prepares a memorandum for Marshal Berthier. He draws the Marshal’s attention to the international benefits conferred by his institutions, and mentions the school of drawing ‘under the supervision of Geheimrat von Goethe, who is of the opinion that the arts will continue to decline unless they are placed at the service of the crafts’. He also refers to the modest art collections and to his art exhibitions.
