On Arno Schmidt’s Zettel(‘)s Traum / Bottom’s Dream: A phenomenology of editions
the dilemma:
when i decided to finally buy arno schmidt’s experimental novel “zettel’s traum” in 2024 in order to read it in the foreseeable future, i was frustrated by the fact that there seemed to be no cumulative & easily accessible information on the net about the different editions of the novel & how they differ fundamentally from each other. i had to painstakingly gather all the information from various sites myself. but the thing is, if you really are willing to spend a lot of money on a book (“a lot” meaning from about 50 euros or dollars upwards), you really want to make sure that you get the right edition.
here is what i learnt in the course of this research, but also from simply reading the text:
when differentiating between the german editions, you have to keep in mind that there are quite a few of them out there. first off, you have to know that all editions of “zettel’s traum” can basically be grouped the following way:
variant 0 = the original typescript out of schmidt’s typewriter(s)
this is the one typescript which came straight out of schmidt’s typewriter(s). it is therefore unique & not available for purchase. all the other editions are based on this typescript in some way.
variant 1 = facsimiles of schmidt’s typescript
in the end, this is nothing more than a photomechanical reproduction, i.e. photos of schmidt’s original typescript pages that have been made more legible by image processing. depending on what your goals are when reading “zettel’s traum”, it can be to your advantage or to your disadvantage that all artefacts that are also on the typescript are reproduced on the facsimiles — except for the color, as the facsimiles are monochromatic.
variant 2 = cleared up, typeset prints
the new typeset edition in german (2) was done by recreating the typescripts (the pages schmidt wrote with his typewriters) letter by letter in a typesetting application by a single person named friedrich forssman, which took many years to finish (apparently from 1988 until 2010). this new edition offers better readability & integrates all of schmidt’s annotations / corrections seamlessly. please note, however, that the layout differs: the distribution of the letters on the page therefore is not identical, meaning, in our case, page 50 starts differently than in variants 0 & 1 (which, of course, are identical in terms of layout).
this could be crucial, as people often tend to refer to the page numbers of schmidt’s typescript with something like “ZT 50”. while schmidt’s typescript (0) & the facsimiles (1) are made up of exactly 1330 “sheets”, the german typeset editions (2) consist of 1536 pages & therefore are about 200 pages longer.
what else to take into account?
from my experience, schmidt’s handwritten annotations or corrections, which are reproduced in the facsimiles (1), in most cases just aren’t readable at all — or hardly readable at best in the bigger facsimile editions. if you were a scholar, you’d have to work with a magnifying glass—which i’ve done, & let me tell you: reading schmidt’s scribbles remains challenging.
furthermore, the newly typeset edition (2) does neither show blacked out text or strikethroughs, nor any handwritten annotations by schmidt at all, which makes it come across less “authentic” or less “auratic”.
so there’s quite a caveat to both variants. when deciding on which edition to buy, you have to take a compromise: get the better readable (& more expensive) editions (2), or the ones which are more affordable & which are giving you an idea of schmidt’s working methods, but which are also harder on they eye (1).
one more thing on this matter: schmidt wrote the text with having in mind to see it typeset one day, even if he came to the conclusion that this would probably never happen — a thing he was wrong about. so going with the new typeset edition (2) is probably what schmidt would advise you to do, as this one is closer to schmidt’s original vision. still, the facsimile editions (1) have its very own charm. also, reading the facsimile editions enables you to get an idea how his text came together & where schmidt did corrections, or where he added bits & pieces, & so on. it’s a little bit as if schmidt’s thinking process became visible & as if you could look right into his brain.
but there are even more subtle differences we have to keep in mind when reading “zettel’s traum”:
in the facsimile edition (1), whether it is the more expensive hardcover edition or the paperback edition, there aren’t any greyscales. basically, this is a good idea to increase the legibility of the somewhat faded typewriting or the even lighter pencil markings, but on the other hand, it means that subtle characteristics of schmidt’s typescript are lost. the handwritten annotations in pencil are no longer recognizable as such, they are just as black as the rest of the text, looking like black ink, &, moreover, have become very, very difficult to read due to the image editing process. it can also be seen that the blacked-out areas are really “blacked out”, which means that in almost all cases the underlying text has really been erased & is therefore lost to the reader.
because blacking out letters & words on the original typescript was done with pencil or more likely a faded black marker (as it seems to me — see the image below), this means that the words underneath the markings in some cases are still recognizable & in many cases potentially can be restored. the various writing utensils used by schmidt, such as pencils/markers, or apparently red colored pencils, are also clearly visible. for the reader who makes no great philological demands, all this may be irrelevant, but for a more in-depth & philologically sound examination of the text, you have to take into consideration working with the original typescript — or with photos of it:
the translation:
interesting fact: the english edition of “bottom’s dream” by dalkey archive press, a translation done by john e. woods, isn’t even modeled after the german typeset edition (2). woods started with the translation, which would take him 11 years, way before the german typeset edition was published. while the typeset german edition (2) would take forssman about 22 years to complete, the english translation, which of course is also typeset (there naturally is no typescript of „zettel’s traum“ by schmidt in english), took only half as long: 11 years.
however wondrous this may seem, what is primarily relevant for you is that you don’t have an option of choosing between variant 1 or variant 2 when it comes to the english translation, as the dalkey archive edition is the only available edition anyway (& unfortunately only available via second hand, as of early 2025).
so, once again: the page layout of the newly typeset english edition is not recreated 1:1 from the german typeset edition. this means that pages can deviate substantially (see comparison screens below: the marked up text is in the upper half of the page in the german typescript edition, but in the lower half of the newly typeset english edition).
the size factor:
aside from all that, you might want to consider the size factor — especially with the german facsimile editions (1). as the typescript isn’t as clean & its font is not as “smooth” as those of a digitally typeset edition, bigger editions do offer a better readability overall. if you have good eyesight & don’t care about reading the handwritten annotations, you could easily go with a used paperback edition by s. fischer, which you might be able to grab for a good € 50,-. if you want an oversized hardcover, which offers a supreme reading experience, you might have to pay even hundreds of euros.
below you can find a comparison shot between the biggest edition available, a hardcover facsimile print from stahlberg, which is put side to side to the smallest available edition, a pirated print of about half the size. please note that the pirated print is slightly smaller than the paperback editions from s. fischer or suhrkamp.
a phenomenology of all available editions:
taking all this into account, which possibilities of acquiring “zettels traum” (or “bottom’s dream”, as it is called in english) does one have?
below you can find a phenomenology of all available editions (i do apologize for pirating multiple images from different sellers, etc., but i do think this is for the greater good. if you would like a picture removed, please contact me). doing research in this regard was further complicated by the fact that many of the listings on various sites just aren’t correct. also, it is possible that even more ISBN numbers do exist, so i might do additional research on those, but that aside, the guide below should cover all physical variations of “zettel’s traum” ever printed:
zettel(‘)s traum — german — facsimile (1):
- zettels traum — first edition in “DIN-A3” format, stahlberg verlag 1970 (stuttgart), hardcover, no ISBN (limited to 2000 pieces, signed):
zettels traum — “student’s edition” in 8 volumes (42,5 × 32 cm), facsimile edition, s. fischer 1973, paperback, no ISBN:
- zettels traum — facsimile edition (44,5 × 32,5 cm), s. fischer 1977, hardcover, no ISBN:
- zettels traum — “student’s edition” in 8 volumes, facsimile edition (44 × 32 cm), s. fischer 1986, paperback, ISBN 9783100706034:
- zettels traum — facsimile edition (45,5 × 33 cm), s. fischer 1986/1992 (depending on which issue it is; overall it seems to be identical to the hardcover edition from 1977), hardcover, ISBN 9783100706072:
- zettels traum — facsimile edition (32 × 23,5 cm), s. fischer 2002, paperback, ISBN 9783596505609:
- zettels traum — facsimile edition (41 × 49 cm), s. fischer 2004, hardcover, ISBN 9783100706263 (can be identified by its brighter, turquoise color):
- zettels traum — the berlin pirated facsimile edition from 1970 (ca. 30 × 21 cm) (linen, inferior quality. as far as i know, this is the smallest available edition, making it almost a “pocket” edition in comparison):
- zettels traum — 2nd pirated edition, presumably hannover, 1981 (ca. 42 × 30 cm) (linen, probably still inferior quality, but only slightly smaller than the licensed facsimile hardcovers):
zettel(‘)s traum — german — typeset (2):
- zettel’s traum — bargfelder ausgabe. werkgruppe IV: das spätwerk: band 1 (36 × 27,5 cm), suhrkamp verlag 2010, hardcover, ISBN 9783518803103 (this edition has 1536 pages — because of being typeset, the page numbering differs from the facsimiles. furthermore, it is significantly smaller than older facsimile hardcovers — this is because of the typeset edition being better legible in general).
€ 298,- subscription fee in germany, regularly € 348,-:
- zettel’s traum — bargfelder ausgabe. werkgruppe IV: das spätwerk: band 1 (35 × 26,5 cm), suhrkamp verlag 2010, paperback, 4 volumes in slipcase, ISBN 9783518803004 (this edition has 1536 pages — because of being typeset, the page numbering differs from the facsimiles).
€ 198,- subscription fee in germany, regularly € 248,-:
- zettel’s traum — bargfelder ausgabe. werkgruppe IV: das spätwerk: band 1 (42,5 × 29,5 cm), suhrkamp verlag 2010, “half-vellum” in slipcase, including 4 full-color facsimiles*, ISBN 9783518803202 (*four typescript pages have been reproduced in full color. this edition has 1536 pages — because of being typeset, the page numbering differs from the facsimiles. it also is larger than the regular typeset hardcover edition from 2010. considered the most prestigious & expensive edition).
€ 448,- in germany, only 400 pieces were available via preorder. you can also take a look at this absolutely beautiful edition by reading the official reading sample:
zettel(‘)s traum = “bottom’s dream” — english — typeset (2):
- bottom’s dream — translated by john e. woods (35,5 × 28 cm*), dalkey archive press 2016, hardcover, ISBN 9781628971590 (*clearly downsized compared to the german hardcover editions, but because it is a typeset edition, which is easier on the eye than facsimiles, this seems to be a really good compromise):
if you have any additions or corrections to make, i would appreciate it if you’d contact me.
tom ghostly, march 2025.
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alternative title of this medium story:
Arno Schmidt’s “Zettels Traum” / “Bottom’s Dream”: Eine Phänomenologie der Editionen / Ausgaben.
