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The First Interview of Werther and Charlotte

October 16, 1782
Not on view
In this subject from "The Sorrows of the Young Werther," the hero encounters Charlotte caring for younger siblings after they have lost their mother. Goethe's epistolary novel centers on their ensuing tragic love story. Published in Leipzig in 1774, the text appeared in English in 1779 and is considered a key early Romantic text.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The First Interview of Werther and Charlotte
  • Engraver: John Raphael Smith (British, baptized Derby 1751–1812 Doncaster)
  • Artist: After Henry William Bunbury (British, Mildenhall, Suffolk 1750–1811 Keswick, Cumberland)
  • Publisher: John Raphael Smith (British, baptized Derby 1751–1812 Doncaster)
  • Subject: Related author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German, Frankfurt am Main 1749–1832 Weimar, Saxe-Weimar)
  • Date: October 16, 1782
  • Medium: Stipple and etching with hand-coloring
  • Dimensions: Sheet (clipped within plate): 13 3/4 × 16 1/8 in. (35 × 40.9 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gertrude and Thomas Jefferson Mumford Collection, Gift of Dorothy Quick Mayer, 1942
  • Object Number: 42.119.66
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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