THERESE VON JAKOB ROBINSON

About the Book

Therese von Jakob Robinson (1797–1870), a native of Halle, Germany, has been the subject of numerous studies and several international conferences that have focused almost exclusively on her poetical translations of Serbian folk-song texts, which were published in a two-volume edition in 1826. Other aspects of her literary career, namely those related to her work as a novelist and essayist, have been undertaken by those seeking to define how the immigrant experience of German-American women affected their writings. Biographical studies, however, have been limited because of a paucity of primary materials, especially those associated with the thirty years Therese spent in America as the wife of Edward Robinson. The present biography-the first in the English language to appear in almost one hundred years-relies heavily on original documents provided the author by the descendants of Therese and Edward Robinson. With this newly acquired material, the author has been able to draw a more expansive portrait of a remarkable female writer, whose career forged a significant cultural bridge between Germany and America in the nineteenth century.

About the Author

Hermine Weigel Williams has held teaching positions in the fields of musicology and religion at Vassar College and Hamilton College, where she is presently a scholar-in-residence. She also has been a Fulbright Senior Lecturer in Music in New Zealand.

Dr. Williams is best known for her work related to opera history and performance. She co-authored with Donald Jay Grout the third and fourth editions of A Short History of Opera, produced Volume 6 of the Operas of Alessandro Scarlatti series, and received a commission from the San Francisco Opera for a performing edition of Scarlatti?s Il tronfo dell?onore. Recent publications include Sibelius and His Masonic Music,Francesco Bartolomeo Conti: His Life and Music and Thomas Hastings, An Introduction to His Life and Music.