HOFFMANN', ERNST THEODOR AMADEUS (originally ) 1177G-1822). An eccentric German romantic novelist of cosmopolitan repu tation and influence. born at kiMigsberg. His foremost characteristic is his wayward yet keen fancy. suggesting at once Hawthorne and Poe. Ile dealt by preference with the grotesque, -tartling. and Illa rvelou:. until toward the close of his life morbidity verged on mail. ne-s. After a joyless ehildhood. he prepared for the law, let his wit run away with his pro' Bence in some witty caricatures. and finding his career thus bloeked, suff•n•il from penury and dissipation. Ile eked out a living by scene and portrait painting and musical composition and i•riticisin in Po-en. \Var-aw. Bamberg, Leipzi!!. Dresden, and Berlin. where in Itilt; lie became councilor of the Court of Appeals. For short lie was manager and musical di rector also. His first look was a collection of musical criticisms with illustrations, Phan tasi, st in ('allots icr (1514). In 18111 appeared Die Eli.rire des T, ilfrls, whielli, with Lvlensansieh ten des linters M urr (1S20-22) the most famous of his weals. Other noteworthy
volumes are Div Serapionsrriider (1319-21) mid Nachtstiicke (1817). All are alike characterized by a lyric swing and an erratic imagination that is nientally disquieting and yet blended with shrewd satire, wit, and even wisdom. He died of disease induced by dissipation, his mind at times clear, and clinging tenaciously to a life that ebbed inch by inch away. Hoffmann's Works are in fifteen volumes (1879-83). Of the more popular, there are many editions. The Elisire des Teafels has been translated into English (1824), also Der goldcne Topf (The Golden Pot), one of the Phantasiestiicke, by Carlyle in his German Ro mance (Edinburgh, 1827), with a biographical sketch. Other translations are by Gillies (Lon don, 1826) ; Bealby (New York, 18S5) ; and Ewing (London, 1886). Consult: Hitzig, Hoffmanns Leber) and Nachlass (Stuttgart, 1839), and Erin :arm/gen, by Funck (Leipzig, ]836).