DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN. 'The Boy's Marvelous Horny (Vol. I, 1806, really published in 1805, 1808), the most fa mous collection of German folksongs, was the work of Clemens Brentano (q.v.) and Achim von Arnim (q.v.), both members of the Heidel berg Romantic group. The title was furnished by the title of the introductory poem, the theme of which suggests in symbol the content of the whole collection. Romantic medimvalism began to bear fruit in a profound and varied study of the national past, conspicuously in collections of older tales and poems and in scholarly editions of older masterpieces. German interest in folk poetry, which was awkened soon after the mid dle of the 18th century largely through the stimulus of 'Percy's Reliques,> centred mainly in Herder and his followers. Herder's great collection of folk-poetry (1778-79) in accord ance with his conception of the term, was cos mopolitan in scope. Wes Knaben Wunder horn,) on the contrary, was distinctly national, in part conceived as a witness to national treas ures at a time when the political fortunes of Germany were at a low ebb. The transcrip
tion of the texts of the songs, whether from older printed sources or derived from oral tradition, is sometimes careless and linguis tically inaccurate; the collectors even made deliberate alterations. Later collections have been more extensive and more scientific, but the importance of 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn> re mains: it is a treasure-house of popular song and ballad, of infinite variety and beauty, an index of a people's soul. The influence of this work on the lyric poets and ballad-writers of the early 19th century can hardly be overesti mated, notably on Uhland, Eichendorff, Wil helm Muller and Heine. The collectors dedi cated the first volume to Goethe, who reviewed it favorably and significantly in the Jenaische Allgemeine (21 and 22 June 1806). Among several editions with notes and critical material, those of Boxberger, and of Birlinger and Crecelius may be mentioned. Consult also, Rieser, Wes Knaben Wunderhorn und seine Quelle& (Dortmund 1908).