Hermann Hesse: A Pictorial Biography

This book contains 218 black-and-white illustrations, primarily photos, which are prefaced by Hesse’s “Kurzgefasster Lebenslauf,” written in 1925, when Hesse was nearly 50. It’s an entertaining read, especially the last few pages, when he writes the “biography” of how he was to spend the next twenty-five years. The central part of the book is filled with photos of Hesse, as well as other writers, painters, and others with whom he was in contact, dust jackets and title pages of his publications, his homes, and gardens. The pocketbook format detracts a little from the pleasure of looking at the photos, but it’s easily worth the seven German Marks I paid for it years ago between trains in Cologne.