Robert Walser as a letter-writer is yet to be discovered. His letters are not merely the private backboard to his work, but an integral part of it. Therefore, the Bern Edition of Walser’s Works opens with a new, comprehensive edition of his letters. They provide insight to the existential conditions of Walser’s »life as a poet« between Zurich, Berlin, Biel, Bern and Herisau.

In these letters, we get to know Walser through the various branches of his network, which range from his closest siblings to Hesse and Hofmannsthal. We bear witness to how elegantly and resolutely he stands up for his literary survival when facing his publishers and editors. In the fight for fees per line and in a critical commentary of his present-day, we hear the highly alert, urbane Walser. By contrast, his private letters have the voice of the playful, witty Walser. In particular, the letters to his long-time friend, Frieda Mermet, document a long-distance love of the most delicate sort.

Robert Walser (1878-1956), through his novels, short dramas, and poems, and above all through his feuilleton-like short prose, is regarded as one of the most important authors of twentieth-century German-language literature. Since 1978, his work has been published by Suhrkamp Verlag. The Bern Edition, published in association with the Robert Walser Foundation in Bern, provides a new way into Walser’s work, with meticulously edited texts, afterwords and notes. The edition opens with three volumes of letters. These include, as compared to earlier editions, 336 additional letters by Walser, as well as all the letters received in return. The commentary volume also contains third person letters, illustrations, a rich table of personages and a chronology.

Letters 1: 1897-1920
Letters 2: 1921-1956
Letters – Afterword and Appendices

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