The Editor begs to call attention to some of the difficulties he had
to encounter in preparing this edition of the complete works of
Friedrich Nietzsche. Not being English himself, he had to rely upon
the help of collaborators, who were somewhat slow in coming forward.
They were also few in number; for, in addition to an exact knowledge
of the German language, there was also required sympathy and a certain
enthusiasm for the startling ideas of the original, as well as a
considerable feeling for poetry, and that highest form of it,
religious poetry.
Such a combination--a biblical mind, yet one open to new thoughts--was
not easily found. And yet it was necessary to find translators with
such a mind, and not be satisfied, as the French are and must be, with
a free though elegant version of Nietzsche. What is impossible and
unnecessary in French--a faithful and powerful rendering of the
psalmistic grandeur of Nietzsche--is possible and necessary in
English, which is a rougher tongue of the Teutonic stamp, and
moreover, like German, a tongue influenced and formed by an excellent
version of the Bible. The English would never be satisfied, as
Bible-ignorant France is, with a Nietzsche _à l'Eau de Cologne_--they
would require the natural, strong, real Teacher, and would prefer his
outspoken words to the finely-chiselled sentences of the _raconteur_. It
may indeed be safely predicted that once the English people have
recovered from the first shock of Nietzsche's thoughts, their biblical
training will enable them, more than any other nation, to appreciate
the deep piety underlying Nietzsche's Cause.
As this Cause is a somewhat holy one to the Editor himself, he is
ready to listen to any suggestions as to improvements of style or
sense coming from qualified sources. The Editor, during a recent visit
to Mrs. Foerster-Nietzsche at Weimar, acquired the rights of
translation by pointing out to her that in this way her brother's
works would not fall into the hands of an ordinary publisher and his
staff of translators: he has not, therefore, entered into any
engagement with publishers, not even with the present one, which could
hinder his task, bind him down to any text found faulty, or make him
consent to omissions or the falsification or "sugaring" of the
original text to further the sale of the books. He is therefore in a
position to give every attention to a work which he considers as of no
less importance for the country of his residence than for the country
of his birth, as well as for the rest of Europe.
It is the consciousness of the importance of this work which makes the
Editor anxious to point out several difficulties to the younger
student of Nietzsche. The first is, of course, not to begin reading
Nietzsche at too early an age. While fully admitting that others may
be more gifted than himself, the Editor begs to state that he began to
study Nietzsche at the age of twenty-six, and would not have been able
to endure the weight of such teaching before that time. Secondly, the
Editor wishes to dissuade the student from beginning the study of
Nietzsche by reading first of all his most complicated works. Not
having been properly prepared for them, he will find the _Zarathustra_
abstruse, the _Ecce Homo_ conceited, and the _Antichrist_ violent. He
should rather begin with the little pamphlet on Education, the
_Thoughts out of Season, Beyond Good and Evil_, or the _Genealogy of
Morals_. Thirdly, the Editor wishes to remind students of Nietzsche's
own advice to them, namely: to read him slowly, to think over what
they have read, and not to accept too readily a teaching which they
have only half understood. By a too ready acceptance of Nietzsche it
has come to pass that his enemies are, as a rule, a far superior body
of men to those who call themselves his eager and enthusiastic
followers. Surely it is not every one who is chosen to combat a
religion or a morality of two thousand years' standing, first within
and then without himself; and whoever feels inclined to do so ought at
least to allow his attention to be drawn to the magnitude of his task.