ABSTRACT

On 2 April 1866 Carlyle was installed as Rector of Edinburgh University. Carlyle confessed to Goethe in November 1829 that he was 'still but an Essayist, and longing more than ever to be a Writer in a far better sense'. In the more immediate future, Goethe and German literature - with its revelation of a 'new Heaven and new Earth' - became a vital ally in the struggle to win, and keep, the affection of Jane Welsh. German literature is partly to be thanked for this. It not only formed the first and most common subject matter of the letters, but was also to be the means by which Carlyle began, somewhat belatedly, to make a living and - equally important in Jane's eyes - a reputation as a writer. German literature was the common language, with Carlyle eagerly playing Abelard to Jane's Eloisa.