...In 1815, Goethe gave symbolic expression to his intense relationship with Marianne Willemer, a recently married woman thirty-five years his junior. He gave her a leaf from the ginkgo tree, explaining that, like its deeply cleft yet still whole leaf, he was “single yet twofold.” Although...

...This chapter describes the ginkgo, a tree whose leaf German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe gave to Marianne Willemer in September 1815 as a symbol of his loving affection. Some research shows that the ginkgo may be the oldest tree on our planet. It has fan-shaped leaves, is pest resistant...

...This chapter provides an account of how Johann Wolfgang von Goethe gave a ginkgo leaf to Marianne Willemer on September 15, 1815. It explains that on this day that Goethe met with his friends, including Johann Jakob Willemer with his wife Marianne, and sent a ginkgo leaf with the idea “that I am...

...This chapter discusses the depiction of the ginkgo in recent literature, explaining that the ginkgo has become part of literature because of its association with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It discusses works related to the ginkgo, including Frederic Schnack's poem about Goethe's mystical signature...