Some Essays - Heinrich von Kleist

October 2025 // Hand-Bound Pamphlet // 36 pages

Can a work of art reject its viewer? What if human beings have no control over their actions? What if recognizing this was the key to absolute freedom? These are the some of the questions posed by Heinrich von Kleist in this collection. Published in rapid succession during the last year of his life, these brief but challenging essays present the finest distillation of Kleist’s philosophical thought.

Heinrich von Kleist was a German-language novelist, dramatist, journalist, purported spy, newspaperman, and poet. Best known in his own time for his theatrical works, he is perhaps most famous today for the short novels, Michael Kohlhaas and The Marquise of O.

Matthew Spencer is a writer, publisher, and translator. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He runs this press and website. 

Contents:

• Translator's Introduction•5 
• Feelings Before Friedrich's Seascape•13
• On the Marionette Theater•17
• On Deliberation•29
• Thoughts On the Way of the World•31