Essays on art, letters, thoughts, aphorisms - Goethe's thoughts were dealing with artworks of every branch of arts. He addressed many aspects of the artistic process and described his impressions of works of arts - and even dilettantism - in his essays. Being one of the great masters of german written arts, Goethe used his own skills to express his thoughts: while Section 25 is more of a commented list of pictures in a gallery, two other sections are dramatic readings. Furthermore there are letters, talks and thoughts to entertain - I hope, these essays may function as a worthy treasure-chest for the interested. S.G. Ward translated this fine selection of Goethe's publications around these topics.