GOTENDORF, JAMES (JAMES NATHAN):
German-American merchant and litterateur; born Feb. 9, 1811, at Eutin, Holstein, Germany; died at Hamburg Oct. 5, 1888. He went to the United States in 1830, and for the next twenty years was engaged in the commission business in New York. About 1843 he became friendly with Horace Greeley (upon whose advice he changed his name from "James Nathan" to "Gotendorf"), and through him with Margaret Fuller, afterward Countess Ossoli, in whom he aroused feelings of passionate friendship. In 1845 he left New York, but returned in 1850, and for two years engaged in a banking business in Wall street. He then retired to Hamburg, where he spent the remainder of his life. Fifty of Margaret Fuller's letters to him were published under the title "Love-Letters of Margaret Fuller" (New York, 1903).
- Love-Letters of Margaret Fuller, p. 190. Letters from Gotendorf appeared in the Tribune (New York), Sept. 10, 12, 16, 1845.
