Johann Arnold Ebert

In his youth, Ebert was greatly influenced by the poet Friedrich von Hagedorn, who supported him and encouraged his interest in English language and literature.

There he gave instruction in translation into the English language, teaching even the crown prince Charles William Ferdinand.

He was in friendly contact with the important men of letters who lived in Brunswick and surrounding areas, including Justus Friedrich Wilhelm Zachariae, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Jerusalem, Karl Christian Gärtner, and Konrad Arnold Schmid, as well as later Johann Joachim Eschenburg and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (in whose appointment at the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel he played a leading role).

Ebert's importance is based less on his own lyrical works than on his role as a cultural and literary agent.

With this work, Ebert set about increasing the esteem of English literature in the German-speaking world.