Lessing’s Materials/Materialities
Lessing Society Sponsored Panel
ASECS Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, April 9-11, 2026
In May 1770, Lessing assumed the office of librarian at the ducal library at Wolfenbüttel, known today as the Herzog August Bibliothek, a position he held until his death in 1781. As librarian, he was responsible for reorganizing the library’s holdings, which consisted of over 100,000 volumes, and for expanding the library’s collection on a very limited budget, which he accomplished by selling off or exchanging duplicates (Doublettentausch). Although born of necessity, this concern with the materiality and exchange value of the book mirrors the frequency with which material goods and objects are foregrounded in Lessing’s oeuvre, including rings (Minna von Barnhelm, Nathan der Weise), letters (Miß Sara Sampson), textiles (Nathan der Weise), and paintings and sculptures (Emilia Galotti, Laokoön). Today, our understanding of Lessing’s biography and his cultural significance continues to be shaped by the materiality of objects displayed in archives and collections in Wolfenbüttel, Kamenz, and beyond. In both Lessing’s oeuvre and in the collections and archives that frame his legacy, the (in)authenticity of an object’s provenance is central to its interpretation – most notably in the Ring Parable, in which the symbolic overdetermination of the three rings is linked to their exchangeability.
This panel draws attention to the role of material objects and materiality in Lessing’s life, works and reception. Inquiries could address topics such as:
- Representations of material objects, collections, and collectors in Lessing’s works (e.g., the rings in Nathan der Weise, the Laokoön sculpture, the painting of Emilia Galotti)
- Library and museum collections connected with Lessing, such as the Herzog August Bibliothek, the Lessinghaus Wolfenbüttel, and the Lessing-Museum Kamenz
- The materiality of books, periodicals, and correspondence (e.g., paper, marginalia, writing utensils, ephemera)
- Inventories and the (re)classifying of objects, e.g., Lessing’s reorganization of the library in Wolfenbüttel
- Dupes, frauds, and fakes; exchanges and exchangeability (e.g., the Doublettentausch, the three rings in the Ring Parable)
- Lessing’s involvement with theater and its material objects (props, costumes, actors’ debts)
- Money, gambling, and lottery tickets
- Correspondences and collections of letters
- Materiality and the spirit/matter distinction in Lessing’s theological writings
Please send a 250-word abstract and a short CV to Mary Helen Dupree (mhd33@georgetown.edu) and Francien Markx (fmarkx@gmu.edu) by September 15, 2025.
Redaktion: Constanze Baum – Lukas Büsse – Mark-Georg Dehrmann – Nils Gelker – Markus Malo – Alexander Nebrig – Johannes Schmidt
Diese Ankündigung wurde von H-GERMANISTIK [Lukas Büsse] betreut – editorial-germanistik@mail.h-net.msu.edu
Contact Information
Mary Helen Dupree, mhd33@georgetown.edu
Francien Markx, fmarkx@gmu.edu
Contact Email
mhd33@georgetown.edu
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