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KIERKEGAARD'S FIRST PRINTED WORK, A CRITIQUE OF ANDERSEN. KIERKEGAARD, SØREN. 1813-1855. Af en endnu Levendes Papirer, udgivet mod hans Villie. Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel, 1838. image 1
KIERKEGAARD'S FIRST PRINTED WORK, A CRITIQUE OF ANDERSEN. KIERKEGAARD, SØREN. 1813-1855. Af en endnu Levendes Papirer, udgivet mod hans Villie. Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel, 1838. image 2
Lot 15¤

KIERKEGAARD'S FIRST PRINTED WORK, A CRITIQUE OF ANDERSEN.
KIERKEGAARD, SØREN. 1813-1855.
Af en endnu Levendes Papirer, udgivet mod hans Villie. Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel, 1838.

21 – 29 April 2025, 12:00 EDT
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KIERKEGAARD'S FIRST PRINTED WORK, A CRITIQUE OF ANDERSEN.

KIERKEGAARD, SØREN. 1813-1855. Af en endnu Levendes Papirer, udgivet mod hans Villie. Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel, 1838. 12mo (170 x 104 mm). Modern morocco backed patterned paper boards, new endpapers.
Provenance: T. Hensmark (contemporary ink inscription to title); Paul V. Rubow (ink name to endpaper).

FIRST EDITION OF KIERKEGAARD'S FIRST BOOK, A MERCILESS CRITIQUE OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN AND THE FAIRY TALE. Andersen was aware of Kierkegaard's criticism of him as early as 1835. In 1838, Andersen published his "Galoshes of Fortune" which featured an exotic bird which babbled on in a philosophical vein, "with a quip, quip, quip." Andersen read the story throughout Copenhagen, alongside his novel Only a Fiddler. The young Kierkegaard was not pleased with his portrayal, and later in 1838 came forward with this book [in English: From the Papers of One Still Living], a critique of Andersen's Only a Fiddler, and moreover a critique of Andersen himself. Kierkegaard writes that Andersen "completely lacks any philosophy of life," and takes aim at Andersen's emergent romantic philosophy. They would in time mend some of their differences, and Andersen was very thankful upon receiving from Kierkegaard a copy of his Either/Or, writing "I had no idea at all that you entertained friendly thoughts of me, and yet I now find it to be so. God bless you for it! Thank you, thank you!"

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