the iĄaculty oÍ' Graduate Ątudies April, L96[ - MSpace at the ...

?5,
fulness. *Ithough the terrn Tthistorytl often presents
a, sernant'ìc problem, Reclarnls inbentÍon is clear when
he sta-tes thac the discrepancy betvreen literature and
historSr remains irreconcilable in Schnitzlerts play
whose only falth rvith history is its setting in Basel.
In the same way he berates Arthur iviätl"r for basing
his play in Erfurt, v¡hen, he laments, it is not even
certain if Paracelsus had ever been theÈe! Ccntrasting
Kolbenheyer vrith what he terms the pedestrian representabion
of the great amou-nt of Paracelsus literature,
Iùeclam acclaims Kolbenheyerrs work as the first one
irhich has explored. the full range of biography from
birth .bo death. He further exrols this authorrs basis
for his character as being a penetrating study of
biographical materials and source v¡orks" \i'lhat is of
paramount importance for Reclam is his conviction that
the authorr s work is commensurate with the level of
present-day research. Parallel with this conviction
runs the concesslon that Kolbenheyer remains i'r¡ithin
bhe frarne-hlork of historieal probability whenever he
allorvs his imagination to fitl- in certain gaps in
record-ed historY.
This concern r'¡ith historical probability, of
which Reclam is an extreme representative, a-ppears to