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In German. Stated Vierte Auflage (Fourth Edition). Originally published in 1896. Wie ich es sehe was the author's first published work, a collection of short stories. This 1904 fourth edition is rare, one other for sale on the Internet. The spine of that book is described as (Google translate) 'elephant skin'. I hope that's not to be taken literally. The white spine may have some handling soiling or it may be its natural coloring. It's in very good shape. It is of a hard material so there isn't bending at the spine ends. The small gilt lettering on the spine is still fairly bright, though it doesn't jump out at you given the whitish background. The gilt lettering and design on the front is in fairly good shape, parts of a few letters are mostly rubbed away, including the first three letters of the author's last name. The top page edge is gilt. The middle and bottom page edges are deckled or rough-cut. They did a quite decent job of it. As one would expect, there are few instances where the edges are a little on the 'rough'-cut side, only a few. Getting back to the covers for a moment, the cover edges are in very good shape. There are slivers of rub-through at two corners, and a speck-sized spot of it at one other. If you hold the book up with your hand on the rear cover you'll notice that the front cover very clearly bows outward, doesn't at all lie flat against the textblock. If you hold the book up with your hand on the front cover you'll notice the exact same thing with the rear cover. That being said, both covers are nicely, tightly bound. There are absolutely no cracks or spaces between the light purple inside covers and their facing light purple end papers, none on either the front or the rear. And the binding of the pages is similarly quite solid from cover to cover, nicely tight pages throughout. The pages are in very decent condition. They are very clean, one small, light spot of the bottom edge of the title page. I didn't see any other conspicuous soiling. There is a tiny crease at the bottom corner of the two front end papers, some crinkling here and there, but creasing is not an issue. There is a tiny nick at the bottom edge of five pages, two have a teeny tiny loss. There are no markings or attachments. No writing of any kind anywhere. There is a white ribbon. 'Peter Altenberg was a writer and poet from Vienna, Austria. He played a key role in the genesis of early modernism in the city. He was born Richard Engländer in 1859 in Vienna. The nom de plume, 'Altenberg', came from a small town on the Danube river. Allegedly, he chose the 'Peter' to honor a young girl whom he remembered as an unrequited love (it had been her nickname). Although he grew up in a middle class Jewish family, Altenberg eventually separated himself from his family of origin by dropping out of both law and medical school, and embracing Bohemianism as a permanent lifestyle choice. He cultivated a feminine appearance and feminine handwriting, wore a cape, sandals and a broad-brimmed hat, and despised macho masculinity. Discovered by Arthur Schnitzler in and appreciated by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Karl Kraus, Altenberg was one of the main proponents of Viennese Impressionism. He was a master of short, aphoristic stories based on close observation of everyday life events. After reading Altenberg's first published collection Wie ich es sehe Hofmannsthal wrote: 'Even though entirely unconcerned with things important, the book has such a good conscience that one can immediately see that it cannot possibly be a German book. It is truly Viennese. It flaunts it--its origin-- as it flaunts its attitude.' Altenberg's detractors said he was a drug addict and a womanizer. Altenberg was also rumored to have problems with alcoholism and mental illness. Yet his admirers considered him to be a highly creative individual with a great love for the aesthetic, for nature, and for young girls. Altenberg was at one point nominated for the Nobel Prize.'. Seller Inventory # 004961
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