A selection of correspondence received by a noted German writer presents letters from a wide range of contemporaries and associates, gathered and edited with a prefatory essay that explains the editorial choices. The volume preserves an alphabetical arrangement where possible, notes gaps and damage from binding and illegible manuscripts, and omits family papers and passages judged private or injurious. Together the surviving letters illuminate the author’s literary activities, critical opinions, social networks and personal relationships across successive generations while the editor draws attention to editorial limitations and the difficulties of establishing a strict chronological sequence.