“Ghost Haunting”: A newly discovered review by the young Peter Hille

Abstract

Peter Hille made his literary debut in 1876, in the Leipzig-issued periodical Deutsche Dichterhalle. A year later, his first reviews appeared in the same periodical. Hille’s most noteworthy works include his critiques of Gela and Macalda, as well as his essay Der Verehrer Shelley’s. A previously unknown review of a Friedrich Hofmann poem, written during Hille’s stay in Leipzig in 1877, has now been discovered in the periodical. The following article places this rediscovered review in a biographical and contemporary context as well as situates it as a contribution to the early naturalistic environment of the brothers Heinrich and Julius Hart. In 1877, the brothers worked on their first periodical Deutsche Dichtung together with numerous Leipzig collaborators, some of whom may have been known to Hille. The discovery aligns with research of Hille’s early work and adds another building block to his bibliography.