Dryden's Relation to Germany 45 



not materialize; probably due to the later discovery of the real 

 character of the plays and to his other numerous undertakings. 



A. The Spanish Friar 



The first play of Dryden translated in Germany was The Span- 

 ish Friar^ but it was never published. A written copy is in the 

 " geheimen Haus- und Staatsarchiv " at Stuttgart with the title : 

 Comocdia^ genannt Der Spannische Mi'tnch und Ehrlich Rehell, 

 wurde presentiert vor Carolo dem 2ten Konig von Gross-Britan- 

 nien Durch dero Hoff Comoedianten camp oniert.. .Von Johann 

 Dryden hdchstheriihmten Poeten und iibersetzt ausz dem Eng- 

 lischen in das Hochdeutsche Durch Casper Spannagel, Englischer 

 Kilnstler.^ As the play was not printed until 1681 and the reign 

 of Charles II closed in 1685, the Court Comedians must have per- 

 formed it during that interval. The date of the translation can- 

 not be definitely established, as nothing is known of the translator, 

 and the translation is not dated, but it was probably made during 

 the author's lifetime or soon after. Germany's interest in the 

 " Singspiele " and the opera at the close of the seventeenth and 

 the beginning of the eighteenth century, and Dryden's renown as 

 poet likely account for the translation. The records apparently 

 do not show whether the play was performed at the court of Wiirt- 

 emberg, but the translation is significant, because it indicates that 

 even during the Restoration English comedians seem to have had 

 some relation to Germany. 



B. The State of Innocence 



The Spanish Friar was followed by The State of Innocence, 

 which attracted but little attention in England and was brought 

 into Germany as a companion work of Paradise Lost, the source 

 for Dryden's opera. The enthusiasm for Milton's epic spread 

 by Bodmer, and the religious sentiment prevailing in Germany 

 and Switzerland account for its introduction and translation. 

 Bodmer early became acquainted with this play through the 



2 Josef Sittard, Zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters am Wiir- 

 tembergischen Hofe. Nach Originalquellen, Erster Band, 1458-1733, p. 223, 

 Stuttgart, 1890. 



333 



