The express permission of the publisher in writingīritish Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataĪ catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ContentsĮrnst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann was born in Königsberg, East Prussia in 1776. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions. (Indeed, Freud referred to Hoffman as the 'unrivalled master of the uncanny in literature.') Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. In the same vein, his story 'The Sandman' provided both the inspiration for Léo Delibes's ballet Coppélia, and the basis for a highly influential essay by Sigmund Freud, called 'The Uncanny'. Probably Hoffman's most well-known story, produced in 1816, is 'The Nutcracker and the Mouse King', due to the fact that - some seventy-six years later - it inspired Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker. Hoffman went on to produce a great range of both literary and musical works. However, in his late teens Hoffman became increasingly interested in literature and philosophy, and spent much of his time reading German classicists and attending lectures by, amongst others, Immanuel Kant. Born in Königsberg, East Prussia in 1776, Hoffmann's family were all jurists, and during his youth he was initially encouraged to pursue a career in law. Hoffmann was originally published in 1816.

Nutcracker and mouse king book