Henry Crabb Robinson (1775-1867) spent five years in Germany (1800-1805)
and became deeply informed about its Romantic literature and philosophy,
then at its height in that country. In the course of his enthusiastic
embrace of the German language and culture, Robinson built up an
intellectual and literary capital that he would draw on for the rest of
his long life. The main thrust of this critical and biographical study
is to demonstrate that Robinson is an important nineteenth-century life
writer, and that his autobiographical writings, a large portion of which
are still in manuscript, deserve to be taken seriously by students and
scholars of autobiography, and to be published in a new edition. Since
to date no one has focused on Robinson the life writer, this study of
Robinson's German years draws on his published letters, diaries, and
reminiscences as well as some manuscript material.