# Testimonies of Authors explained — Sartor Resartus

> Chapter companion for Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle.

## What happens

This chapter collects various critical and editorial responses to the publication of Sartor Resartus, including a bookseller's taster report, a newspaper critique, a North-American Review article questioning the existence of Teufelsdröckh and Heuschrecke, and prefaces from New England editors defending the work's style and substance.

## Themes in this chapter

### Critique of Society and Materialism

The chapter includes a critique of dandyism and the superficiality of fashion, as seen in the reviewer's comments on the work's treatment of dress.

### The Role of the Artist and Thinker

The New England editors defend the author's eccentric style as a vehicle for serious speculation, highlighting the tension between artistic expression and public reception.

## Character check-ins

### Diogenes Teufelsdröckh

The supposed author of the Philosophy of Clothes, whose existence is doubted by the North-American Reviewer.

### The Editor

The compiler of Sartor Resartus, addressed by the bookseller and defended by New England editors.

### Herr Hofrath Heuschrecke

Mentioned as a purported correspondent whose existence is questioned by the North-American Reviewer.

### Blumine

Referenced as the 'Flower-Goddess' heroine, considered a fictional name by the reviewer.

## Key lines

> The only thing about the work, tending to prove that it is what it purports to be, a commentary on a real German treatise, is the style, which is a sort of Babylonish dialect, not destitute, it is true, of richness, vigour, and at times a sort of singular felicity of expression, but very strongly tinged throughout with the peculiar idiom of the German language.

The sole evidence that the book is a genuine commentary on a German work is its style, which is a mixed dialect that, while occasionally rich and vigorous, is heavily influenced by German idiom.

_The North-American Reviewer questions the authenticity of the work based on its stylistic peculiarities._

> But what will chiefly commend the Book to the discerning reader is the manifest design of the work, which is, a Criticism upon the Spirit of the Age—we had almost said, of the hour—in which we live; exhibiting in the most just and novel light the present aspects of Religion, Politics, Literature, Arts, and Social Life.

The book's main appeal to thoughtful readers is its clear purpose: a critique of the contemporary spirit, covering religion, politics, literature, arts, and social life with fresh insight.

_The New England editors praise the work's critical engagement with the modern era._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sartor_resartus_se/chapters/testimonies-of-authors
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sartor_resartus_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sartor_resartus_se/chapters