The Pictures; The Betrothing

Edward takes stock of a dwindling library before another day of feasting with his companions. When his librarian brings a catalogue, he discovers how few books remain and remembers the care his father lavished on rare editions and handwritten notes. His regret over the collection runs alongside distress about a woman he has come to love. Around him gather guests with comic nicknames, including the gloomy Puritan and a bookseller whose drinking brings tears.

Ludwig Tieck's two novels appear here in English translation, with an introduction that places them within changes in German literature and society. The translator discusses national traditions, foreign fashions, and the renewed interest in poetry and older art. Edward's conversation gives these concerns a personal scale: possessions, pleasure, affection, and belated understanding meet at the same table. Readers interested in fiction about cultural taste and social manners will find both animated dialogue and a substantial account of the works' literary background.