Essay
Briefe aus Paris
Not translated into English
Ludwig Börne · 1832
Opening lines
Ich fange an, den guten Reisegeist zu spüren, und einige von der Legion Teufel, die ich im Leibe habe, sind schon ausgezogen.
I am beginning to feel the good spirit of travel, and some of the legion of devils I have in my body have already moved out.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from zeno.org
Synopsis
One hundred and fifteen letters written from Paris between 1830 and 1833 to Jeanette Wohl, the friend who stayed behind in Frankfurt. Having arrived in the capital in the wake of the July Revolution, the author reports on French political life, the newspapers, the theatres and the streets, mocks the powerful and German celebrities, Goethe included, and draws from each scene a lesson for his country: Germany, too, needs a revolution.
Context
The letters, addressed to Jeanette Wohl but written to be published, appeared in six volumes: the first two in Hamburg with Hoffmann und Campe in 1832, the next in Offenbach in 1833 under a camouflage title, the last in Paris in 1834. A French translation of the first letters appeared as early as 1832 with Paulin. The republicanism expressed in them led to the book being banned in Prussia. Unpublished passages of the letters, devoted to Heine, appeared in 1840, after the author's death.
Who it is for
Several volumes of letters, often read in selection; the tone is lively and satirical.
Prizes and reception
The book that made its author famous, and that made him a figure of Young Germany.