Lost Goethe translation by Alessandro Poerio discovered in Weimar

Art historian Francesca Fabbri has identified a long-lost Italian translation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s play ‘Iphigenia in Tauris’ within the Library of Duchess Anna Amalia in Weimar. The manuscript, which had been missing for approximately 200 years, was identified as the work of the Neapolitan poet Alessandro Poerio (1802–1848).

Poerio, a significant figure in Italian Romanticism and a patriot of the Risorgimento, lived in Weimar between 1825 and 1826. During this time, he frequented the salon of Ottilie von Goethe and presented the translation to the author as a gift in 1826. While Poerio’s translation of ‘The Bride of Corinth’ was previously known, this specific manuscript of ‘Iphigenia’ had remained elusive to scholars for generations.

The manuscript, cataloged under the shelfmark ‘Ruppert 1852’, was dated to around 1825 using a watermark. This discovery provides new insights into the cultural and literary connections between Germany and Italy during the era of Weimar Classicism. The manuscript is expected to be featured in an exhibition at the Casa di Goethe in Rome.