Home Heidi by Johanna Spyri, Fiction, Historical by Johanna Spyri (ISBN: 9781598184105)

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Heidi by Johanna Spyri, Fiction, Historical Paperback - 2005

Name: Heidi
Price: 12.13 EUR
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9781598184105

by Johanna Spyri

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About this book

Heidi is a classic children's book first published in 1881 in Germany by Swiss author Johanna Spyri in two parts: Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning, and Heidi: How She Used What She Learned. Subtitled: "Geschichten für Kinder wie auch für Solche, Welche Kinder lieb haben von Johanna Spyri” Stories for children as well as those that love children by Johanna Spyri). It is one of the best-selling books ever written, and one of the best-known pieces of Swiss literature.

Heidi tells the story of the namesake orphan brought to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. Her cheery attitude wins the heart of her grumpy grandfather, the friendship of a goatherd Peter and his family, and the friendship of Clara, an city-dwelling invalid who later regains her mobility after visiting Heidi in the mountains.

Two sequels, Heidi Grows Up and Heidi's Children, were not written by Spyri, but by her English translator, Charles Tritten.

From the publisher

HEIDI is a delightful story for children of life in the Alps, one of many tales written by the Swiss authoress, Johanna Spyri, who died in her home at Zurich in 1891. She had been well known to the younger readers of her own country since 1880, when she published her story, HEIMATHLOS, which ran into three or more editions, and which, like her other books, as she states on the title page, was written for those who love children, as well as for the youngsters themselves. Her own sympathy with the instincts and longings of the child's heart is shown in her picture of Heidi. The record of the early life of this Swiss child amid the beauties of her passionately loved mountain-home and during her exile in the great town has been for many years a favorite book of younger readers in Germany and America. Madame Spyri, like Hans Andersen, had by temperament a peculiar skill in writing the simple histories of an innocent world. In all her stories she shows an underlying desire to preserve children alike from misunderstanding and the mistaken kindness that frequently hinder the happiness and natural development of their lives and characters. The authoress, as we feel in reading her tales, lived among the scenes and people she describes, and the setting of her stories has the charm of the mountain scenery amid which she places her small actors.

First Edition Identification

The first edition, published anonymously by F.A. Perthes in Gotha, Germany in two volumes, had a decorative cover but no illustrations within the books. Subsequent editions added multiple illustrations.

Louise Windsor Brooks was Heidi's first English translator, and retained the title Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Yearning, for both volumes, published by De Wolfe, Fiske in Boston in 1884. A two volume set entitled Heidi’s Early Experiences and Heidi’s Further Experiences was published in London is 1884, but is 'virtually unattainable.'

The first complete American Edition of the one volume Heidi was published in 1885 by Cupples, Upham, & Company, in Boston. The original book is in gold cloth with the publishers catalogue at the end.