Gustav Höcker
Encyclopedia
Gustav Höcker was a German author
and translator of popular historical novels.
. His father was a colorist
in the textile industry, and his younger brother was Oskar Höcker
, who also became a writer. He spent his childhood in Eilenburg, an early industrial center, and received his secondary education in Chemnitz
. Until the age of 26 he was, against his will, a merchant (in 1862 he published Kaufmännische Carrieren: Wahrheit und Dichtung aus dem Geschäftsleben, inspired by his career in trade), an occupation he left to become a professional writer.
Höcker made a name for himself as a writer of narratives, many of which recount the events of the nineteenth century. He published studies and biographies of drama authors and politicians, and of musicians such as Ludwig van Beethoven
, Joseph Haydn
, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
. A book with "simply written life-stories" on Haydn, Joseph Haydn: a study of his life and time for youth, was translated into English and published in Chicago in 1907. He also wrote crime novels and assisted his brother Oskar, himself a prolific writer. He was influenced by Charles Dickens
, besides Karl Gutzkow
and Ferdinand Stolle. He spent much of his life in Karlsruhe
, and died in Breslau on 11 October 1911.
He attained a measure of commercial success with adaptations of novels in English
, including novels by James Fenimore Cooper
(The Deerslayer
and two collections of adapted "Leatherstocking Tales
"), Robert Montgomery Bird
(Nick of the Woods), and Daniel Defoe
(Robinson Crusoe
). His version of Charles Sealsfield
's Tokeah, or the White Rose was only one of many German versions of the late 1890s.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and translator of popular historical novels.
Biography
Gustav Höcker was born on 28 September 1832 in a suburb of EilenburgEilenburg
Eilenburg is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Nordsachsen in the Free State of Saxony, approximately 20 km northeast of the city of Leipzig.- Geography :...
. His father was a colorist
Colorist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates...
in the textile industry, and his younger brother was Oskar Höcker
Oskar Höcker
Oskar Höcker was a German author of historical novels for children and a stage actor.-Biography:Oskar Höcker was born in a suburb of Eilenburg, like his brother, author Gustav Höcker. He was educated in Chemnitz....
, who also became a writer. He spent his childhood in Eilenburg, an early industrial center, and received his secondary education in Chemnitz
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
. Until the age of 26 he was, against his will, a merchant (in 1862 he published Kaufmännische Carrieren: Wahrheit und Dichtung aus dem Geschäftsleben, inspired by his career in trade), an occupation he left to become a professional writer.
Höcker made a name for himself as a writer of narratives, many of which recount the events of the nineteenth century. He published studies and biographies of drama authors and politicians, and of musicians such as Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
. A book with "simply written life-stories" on Haydn, Joseph Haydn: a study of his life and time for youth, was translated into English and published in Chicago in 1907. He also wrote crime novels and assisted his brother Oskar, himself a prolific writer. He was influenced by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, besides Karl Gutzkow
Karl Gutzkow
Karl Ferdinand Gutzkow was a German writer notable in the Young Germany movement of the mid-19th century.-Life:...
and Ferdinand Stolle. He spent much of his life in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, and died in Breslau on 11 October 1911.
He attained a measure of commercial success with adaptations of novels in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, including novels by James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...
(The Deerslayer
The Deerslayer
The Deerslayer, or The First Warpath was the last of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking tales to be written. Its 1740-1745 time period makes it the first installment chronologically and in the lifetime of the hero of the Leatherstocking tales, Natty Bumppo...
and two collections of adapted "Leatherstocking Tales
Leatherstocking Tales
The Leatherstocking Tales is a series of novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, each featuring the main hero Natty Bumppo, known by European settlers as "Leatherstocking," 'The Pathfinder", and "the trapper" and by the Native Americans as "Deerslayer," "La Longue Carabine" and...
"), Robert Montgomery Bird
Robert Montgomery Bird
Robert Montgomery Bird was an American novelist, playwright, and physician.-Background:Bird was born in New Castle, Delaware on February 5, 1806. After attending the New Castle Academy and Germantown Academy, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1824...
(Nick of the Woods), and Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
(Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
). His version of Charles Sealsfield
Charles Sealsfield
Charles Sealsfield was the pseudonym of Austrian-American journalist Carl Anton Postl , an advocate for a German democracy and author of Romantic novels with American backgrounds and travelogues....
's Tokeah, or the White Rose was only one of many German versions of the late 1890s.
Books authored (selection)
- Kaufmännische Carrieren: Wahrheit und Dichtung aus dem Geschäftsleben. Dresden: Rudolf Kuntze, 1862.
- Geld und Frauen: Erzählungen von Gustav Höcker. Jena: Hermann Costenoble, 1867.
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Glogau: Flemming, 1898.
- Das grosse Dreigestirn: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven. Glogau: Flemming, [1898].
- Die vorbilder der deutschen schauspielkunst. Glogau: Flemming, 1899.
- Zwei Jahren Deutschen Heldenthums. Glogau: Flemming, 1906.
- Jena und Auerstädt: ein geschichtlicher Rückblick auf Preussens Unglückstage. Leipzig: Carl Siwinna, 1907.
- Joseph Haydn: a study of his life and time for youth. Trans. in English by George P. Upton. Chicago: A.C. McClurg, 1907.
- Arnold of Winkelried. Trans. in English by George P. Upton. Life Stories for Young People, 1908.
Translations and adaptations
- Der Wildtöter. Trans. of James Fenimore Cooper, The Deerslayer. Stuttgart, Berlin, Leipzig: Union Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, 1880.
- Tokeah. Trans. and adaptation of Charles SealsfieldCharles SealsfieldCharles Sealsfield was the pseudonym of Austrian-American journalist Carl Anton Postl , an advocate for a German democracy and author of Romantic novels with American backgrounds and travelogues....
, Tokeah, or the White Rose. Stuttgart, Berlin, Leipzig: Union Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, [1890s].
External links
- Gustav Höcker in the German National LibraryGerman National LibraryThe German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...