Description

D. C. Heath & Co., Publishers [Published date: 1897]. Hard cover, 74 pp. Introduction in English. Text in German with vocabulary list at back giving definitions in English. In acceptable+ condition/ NO dust jacket. Brown cloth covered boards with dark brown lettering on spine. Light bumping and scuffing to edges and corners and light overall scuffing, aging and soiling. Binding tight. Previous owner's name and state in pencil on front free end paper. Pages are lightly aged with a few light notes in pencil and occasional light soiling. NOT Ex-library. NO remainder marks. Black and white frontispiece illustration. [From Introduction] Johanna Spyri, the Louisa M. Alcott of German literature, was born at Zurich, Switzerland, in 1827. Her father, a physician, and her mother, a gifted song poet, gathered about them many friends in this center of Swiss culture. Brought up in a large family circle, Johanna had a wholesome, happy childhood and youth, in regard to which interesting biographical data can be gleaned in Onkel Titus. A lively, lovable, clever woman, Johanna married, in 1852, the Zurich Stadtschreiber, Spyri, and had one son, who died of consumption during his student years. Johanna Spyri's books are widely known, not only among the German speaking population of Europe, but also, thanks to translations, to a wide foreign public. The best known of all her works is Heidi^ whose doings fill sundry volumes, like the . Katydid series of Susan Coolidge. Because of the wholesome, natural, and humorous qualities of these stories, no German Juvenile Library is considered complete until it contains one or more of the Spyri books, which for years have been standard Christmas gifts for young readers In Moni der Geissbub, this talented author gives us the experiences of a typical Alpine goat-herd, together with such a graphic description of his surroundings and struggles, that the story, aside from its human interest, possesses great moral educational value. After a beautiful and useful life, during which she penned a long series of tales, all of which reflect her pure, brave, bright spirit, Johanna Spyri died in 1901, after a long and painful illness. Her books, however, continue to be popular not only among children, but as favorite folk-tales in all rural centers, where her works are equally beloved by old and young.