Notebooks 1-6

• Package weight: 1,600 pounds
• Packaging dimensions (L x W x H): 15.4 x 22.6 x 3.2 cm
• Colour : grey
• Country of origin: Germany

Hans Wysling writes in his introduction to this edition: "In Thomas Mann's decrease there are 14 notebooks from the time of 1893-1937, with an additive of 1947. The earliest still contains notes from the Lübecker student, in the last there are hints on the ›ZauberbergÕ and the ›JosephÃ. The most economical are the entries to ›Buddenbrooksæ, ›FiorenzaÕ, ›The beloved (Maja)Õ. › Royal Highness〗, › Spirit and Art ┃ and the › views of a non-political personnel, but also traces are present from the preparation of many smaller works. The notebooks are even more valuable than Thomas Mann burned the diaries from the period before 1933 except those from 1918 to 1921. The entries are almost entirely work-related. Thomas Mann records titles of planned works, notes down motifs, first psychological apperçus on characters, sets up actual word lists – all of this, but also during the journal of a work, so that the story of creation can often be traced down to the individual. With the ›Buddenbrooks, for example, the first and the last sentence have been determined since the earliest entries. The notebooks are also of particular interest for the source researcher. The body of the notebooks is published in two volumes. This first volume contains the entries from the early years of creation of the writer. They are veritable notebooks, usually quite different from the stylized reflection of the diaries. The exterior and content of each notebook are described closely by the publishers, commenting entries with subtle expertise in a wealth of closely formulated footnotes, use and transformation of keywords and quotes in the works. Fast, short recordings – but from the beginning, they have a literary existence and thus a piece of work history or history of individual works of Thomas Manns.