Oskar Ludwig Bernhard Wolff

Wolff, Oskar Ludwig Bernhard (Altona, 1799-1851, Jena), turned a gift for instant poetry to commercial account by giving evenings of extemporization. He became a professor at Jena University in 1838. He was a prolific writer of fiction, for which he used the pseudonym Plinius der Jüngste, but was chiefly popular as a compiler of anthologies, the best known of which was Poetischer Hausschatz des deutschen Volkes (1839). He also wrote a history of the novel, Geschichte des Romans von dessen Ursprüngen bis auf die neueste Zeit (1841). His works appeared as Schriften (14 vols.), 1841-3.