ZIMMERMANN was immortalized by his book “On Solitude” (“Über die Einsamkeit”), first published in 1755. Though out of print and somewhat out of fashion at present, it has not ceased, nor will it ever cease, to be read by those who can admire a work of art regardless of its subject. As “The Complete Angler” is now read most by some who fish least, so Zimmermann is read most now by dwellers in cities where any solitude other than that of the crowd is hopeless. He wrote essays “On National Pride,” and other subjects, scientific, moral, and philosophical, but as far as the world is concerned he is a man of one book, existing only in his ideal of solitude.

  He was born in Aargau, Switzerland, December 8th, 1728. By profession he was a physician, and after serving at Hannover as court physician, he went to Berlin, where he attended Frederick the Great in his last illness. His “Reminiscences” of their acquaintance, published in 1788 and 1790, are characterized as egotistical and unjust to Frederick. Zimmermann was eccentric in many ways; and while his individuality is at times repellent, the fullness with which he has expressed it is the reason, no doubt, he continues to attract readers who ask him only for recreation and are content to look elsewhere for instruction.