Kurt Wolff (1887–1963) was a singular presence in the literary world of the twentieth century, a cultural force shaping modern literature itself and pioneering significant changes in publishing. During an intense, active career that took him from Weimar Germany to New York City, where he founded Pantheon Books, Wolff nurtured an extraordinary array of writers, among them Franz Kafka, Lou Andreas-Salomé, Boris Pasternak, Günter Grass, Robert Musil, Paul Valéry, Julian Green, Giuseppe Lampedusa, and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. His essays and letters, many published here for the first time in English, illuminate the complex relations—between publisher and author, publisher and editor, publisher and reading public—that work at their best, as in Wolff’s case, to sustain culture.  “The invaluable correspondence, intoxicating recollections, and, best of all, engaging voice of perhaps this century’s most discriminating publisher.” ― New York Times Book Review “Pure oxygen and nutrition for exhausted and demoralized editors and publishers. One of the prophetic publishers of the century . . . Kurt Wolff instances in these modest reminiscences and correspondence with authors (Kafka, Werfel, Kraus, Rilke, Mann, Pasternak, Grass, et al.) the vision and devotion that bound them to him and that made him—the secret of his calling—‘synonymous with his work.’” ― Nation “This beautifully designed, lovingly printed book is a bouillabaisse of memorabilia, containing historic-quality letters and poems and rich excerpts from published works. It provides a fine bouquet of examples of the cultural and literary delights Wolff’s imprint guaranteed. . . . This is a highly personal, sentimental, enriching book and many admirers of Pantheon―with which Kurt Wolff was long associated―will find it meaningful and revealing. Sentimentalists will be pleased to find the famous Lou Andreas-Salomé here. And the special section entitled ‘Adventures in Publishing’ will offer a surprise with the appearance of James Joyce. As for the section headed ‘On Luring Away Authors,’ it is virtually worth the price of the book to all editors.” ― Washington Post Michael Ermarth is professor of history at Dartmouth College.   Deborah Lucas Schneider is a prolific translator whose other projects have included Caligula: A Biography ,by Aloys Winterling, and Florence and Baghdad: Renaissance Art and Arab Science , by Hans Belting.   Kurt Wolff A PORTRAIT IN ESSAYS & LETTERS By MICHAEL ERMARTH, Deborah Lucas Schneider THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS Copyright © 1991 The University of Chicago All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-226-10480-5 Contents Foreword...................................................................viiTranslator's Note..........................................................xvKurt Wolff: A Biographical Sketch..........................................xviiESSAYS ON PUBLISHING.......................................................The Publishers Profession..................................................5On Publishing in General and the Question How Do an Author and Publisher Come Together?.............................................................8On "Luring Away" Authors, or How Authors and Publishers Part Company.......21Adventures in Publishing...................................................37ESSAYS ON INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS...............................................Franz Kafka................................................................53Franz Werfel...............................................................68Karl Kraus.................................................................82Rabindranath Tagore........................................................116Lou Andreas-Salomé.........................................................131LETTERS....................................................................Rainer Maria Rilke.........................................................143Heinrich Mann..............................................................149Hermann Hesse..............................................................151Thomas Mann................................................................161Anne Morrow Lindbergh......................................................170Boris Pasternak............................................................176Günter Grass...............................................................183LAUDATIO...................................................................Laudatio for Kurt Wolff by Lambert Schneider, on behalf of the German Booksellers Association, May 15, 1960......................................191Acceptance Speech by Kurt Wolff............................................196Kurt Wolff Bibliography....................................................199Selected Titles from the Publishing Houses of Kurt Wolff...................201Glossary of Selected Names.................................................207Index............................