Gustav Freytag, a German novelist, born at Kreuzburg, Silesia, July 13, 1816. He studied at the universities of Breslau and Berlin, and wrote poetry and plays, some of which were favorably received. A complete edition of them was published in Leipsic, in 3 vols. (1848-'50). In 1848, jointly with Julian Schmidt, he succeeded Kuranda as editor of the Grenzboten, and in 1854 he was appointed councillor of the court and lecturer of the duke of Gotha. In 1855 appeared his novel Soll und Haben (16th ed., 1871), which gained for him a wide popularity. It was translated into many languages (English by Mrs. Malcolm, Debit and Credit," 1858). At the close of 1870 he retired from the Grenzboten, to join the newly established weekly journal Im neuen Reich. His Bilder aus der deutschen Vergangenheit (2 vols., 1859; 4th ed., 1863), Nene Bilder aus dem Leben des deutschen Volks (1862), Aus dem Mittelalter (18GG), and Vom Mittelalter bis zur Neuzeit (1867) have been published collectively under the title of Bilder aus der deutschen Vergangenheit (4 vols., 6th ed., Leipsic, 1871 et seq.), part of which has been translated into English.