Mörike's Occultism and the Revision of Maler Nolten

Abstract

Mörike's only novel, Maler Nolten, was published in August 1832; the conception of the story dates from 1827; some writing was done in 1828, and the manuscript was finished in 1831. By 1850, probably earlier though not recorded, Mörike began to entertain the idea of revising his novel; and from that time till his death in 1875 he worked on the revision intermittently and in desultory fashion, though, as his correspondence shows, at times he regarded it as his main literary concern. Thus for a quarter of a century the revision of Maler Nolten was on the author's mind. His frequent illnesses and in the latter part of the period the domestic infelicities which eventually resulted in separation from his wife were contributory causes of delay. Doubtless in the main, however, he was hindered by the inherent difficulty of the undertaking. At his death he left the task still unfinished.