WHAT DOES NOT KILL ME ONLY MAKES ME STRONGER

NIETZSCHE, FRIEDRICH.

Götzen-Dämmerung oder Wie man mit dem Hammer philosophiert. + Dionysos-Dithyramben.

Leipzig, C.G. Naumann, 1889 + (1890 - released 1892).

8vo. Very nice contemporary half calf with five raised bands, gilt ornamentations, and gilt lettered title to spine. Double gilt lines to boards. A bit of wear to capitals and corners. A nice, clean, and tight copy. Internally fresh and clean, uncut. (8), 144 pp. + 21, (1) pp., 1 f. (contents).

The scarce first edition of the epitome of Nietzsche's final project -a re-valuation of all values ("Eine Umwerthung aller Werthe"), -his hugely interesting "declaration of war" (preface p. (4): "Diese Schrift ist eine grosse Kriegserklärung"), which was written during his last productive year, just before his big breakdown in Turin. - Bound together with the first printing of the "Dionysian Dithyrambs", which appeared as a separate appendix to the fourth part of "Also sprach Zarathustra".

"Götzen-Dämmerung" ("The Twilight of the Idols") must be said to constitute the culmination of the production of this giant of philosophy, who turned mad after having finished it.
Early in 1889 Nietzsche began to exhibit signs of serious mental illness, and in Turin he finally broke down, and was brought back to Basel by his friends. "The Twilight of the Idols" was released merely a few weeks after this collapse, and Nietzsche never wrote again.

Nietzsche had 1.000 copies of the work privately printed. The work is considered one of his most popular, and it is here that we find some of the most frequently quoted passages from the works of Nietzsche, e.g. "What does not kill me, only makes me stronger" (p.2.: "Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker").

The Twilight was meant as an introduction to, or summary of, Nietzshe's philosophy, and as such it is one of his most interesting works. It is written almost as in a rage of fever -in only about a week-, and as he himself states at the end of the preface: "Turin, am 30. September 1888, am Tage, da das erste Buch der Umwerthung aller Werthe zu ende kam." (i.e. "Turin, on September 30. 1888, on the day that the first book on the re-valuation of all value came to an end.").

This highly polemical work makes clear reference to Wagner's opera "Götterdämmerung", and it presents us with a sharp critique of the most influential philosophers in history, e.g. Kant, Plato, Socrates, and of Christianity in general, but also the likes of Rousseau, Hugo, Renan, Mill, Darwin, Dante etc. are attacked as the causes of cultural decadence in Europe, and only the likes of Caesar, Napoleon, Dostojevski, Goethe and Thukydides represent the opposite -healthy and strong- strand.

Nobody who had read this work could have been surprised with the mental collapse of the author.

Of the 1.000 copies, 659 still remained unsold by October 1893.


Though Nietzsche is primarily understood and remembered as one of the greatest philosophers of all times, his poems occupy a central place in his literary production and many of them (e.g. the Dithyrambs) are intimately linked with the philosophy, for which he is so famous today.
The first printing of the "Dionysian Dithyrambs" furthermore occupies a central place in the legendary feud over the rights to his works that emerged after his break-down. Nietzshe no longer had any say in the matter of which or where his remaining works were to be printed, and a complicated struggle over the right to decide over these works begins to unfold with the printing of these first six "Dionysian Dithyrambs".

"The first of the "books" to be published without his editorial corrections was actually a collection of nine poems, entitled "Dionysian Dithyrambs", which Nietzsche had gathered together during the last few months of 1888. One of them, "Last Will" ("Letzter Wille"), had originally been composed in 1883... The remaining five poems [being the five that are present here, together with "Last Will"] also saw their first drafts during the "Zarathustra" period but did not receive their final revisions until 1888... He prepared the manuscript for printing and composed a dedication on 1 January 1889, but then decided to withhold it temporarily for future publication. Shortly thereafter he was insane.
One year later, Gast and Naumann decided to publish the poems in same volume as the first public edition "Zarathustra IV" and because three of the poems already appeared in the text - albeit in a slightly revised format - they elected to print the other six poems in an addendum entitled "Dionysian Dithyrambs". But what started out as a simple publishing venture soon became the focal point of a complicated struggle to decide who would control the contents and the timing of the publication of Nietzshe's literary estate...
Naumann had finished the printing of "Zarathustra IV" - which included the addendum of six "Dinysian Dithyrambs"...on 23 November 1890, with every intention of introducing the work at the Easter Book Fair of 1891. But on 24 March and again on 29 March, Franziska wrote to Overbeck pleading that the work not be published. On 1 April, Gast received a similar letter. Naumann was sent a telegram demanding that he withhold "Zarathustra IV" until the issues of blasphemey and liability could be settled. On 13 April, the publisher reluctantly agreed to postpone publication until these issues were resolved.
Elisabeth took this opportunity to begin searching for a new publisher who would assume responsibility for all of her brother's works, including the remaining copies that he had paid to have self-published. Negotiations dragged on for months as Elisabeth continued to browbeat Naumann on a number of issues. Finally, on 9 February 1892, a contract was signed in which C.G. Naumann gained control of all of Nietzsche's previously published works...
The "Dionysian Dithyrambs" appeared as an addendum to the fourth part of "Zarathustra IV", which had been printed in late 1890, and were finally released to the public in March of 1892...
Publication of all nine poems - with the proper revisions - had to wait another six years..." (Schaberg: pp. 173-177).

As mentioned, the "Dionysian Dithyrambs" were published as an appendix (with its own title-page) to "Also sprach Zarathustra IV". The work was published in 1.000 copies (printed in late 1890); by October 1893, 171 copies still remained unsold.

Twilight of the Idols: Schaberg: 56
Dionysian Dithyrambs: Schaberg: 58

Order-nr.: 43145