The Emperor’s New Bookcloths: Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock’s Presentation Copies for the Imperial Court

Abstract

This paper explores Klopstock’s presentation copies of his drama Hermanns Schlacht in the context of his efforts to gain favor with the imperial court in Vienna. It focuses in particular on Klopstock’s attention to the materiality of the presentation copies and his strategies to adjust to court protocol. In this vein, the essay highlights his dissatisfaction with the quality of German books in general, which he felt undermined his efforts to establish himself with his patrons. At the same time, Klopstock seized on the book’s materiality as an opening to reframe the relationship of author to patron. He envisioned a new kind of relationship, which would be more reciprocal. By trying to redefine the author’s position at court, Klopstock aimed to elevate the authorial role more generally. Klopstock’s leveraging of the material book to elevate the author was part of a wider eighteenth-century debate concerning the status of authors in their relation to patrons. Klopstock aimed not only to redefine this relationship as one of equals but also to commit the emperor to provide recognition and financial support for German writers, thus securing the stature of German letters. In this context, Klopstock’s binding choices are shown to be bold moves through which he tried to break the cultural conventions attached to the medium of the presentation copy. Klopstock’s own designs of his presentation copies to the imperial court have to be seen as—ultimately failed—attempts to recalibrate cultural power structures.