The End and the Beginning: The Book of My Life

This translation is something of an event. For the first time, it makes Zur Mühlen’s text available to English-speaking readers in a reliable version.

—David Midgley, University of Cambridge

[This book] represents exceptional value, both as an enjoyable read and as an introduction to an attractive author who amply deserves rediscovery.

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Translator’s Introductory Note

1. The End and the Beginning: The Book of My Life
Hermynia Zur Mühlen

2. 1950 Supplement to Ende und Anfang
Hermynia Zur Mühlen

3. Notes on persons and events mentioned in the memoir

4. Remembering Hermynia Zur Mühlen: A Tribute
Lionel Gossman

List of works by Hermynia Zur Mühlen in English translation

© 2010 Lionel Gossman
The End and the Beginning: The Book of My Life is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

There are seven online supplements associated with The End and the Beginning.

I. Feuilletons and fairy tales. A sampling by Hermynia Zur Mühlen (Translated by Lionel Gossman)
Containing: Editor’s Note (Gossman); 1. The Red Redeemer; 2. Confession; 3. High Treason;  4. Death of a Shade;  5. A Secondary Happiness;  6. The Señora;  7. Miss Brington;  8. We have to tell them;  9. Painted on Ivory;  10. The Sparrow;  11. The Spectacles.

II. Unsere Töchter die Nazinen (Our Daughters the Nazi Girls). A Synopsis.

III. A Recollection of Hermynia Zur Mühlen and Stefan Klein by Sándor Márai, the well-known Hungarian novelist and author of Embers (Translated by L. Gossman)

IV. Ideas of Class and Proletarian Consciousness in the Writing of Hermynia Zur Mühlen by Patrik von zur Mühlen (Translated by L. Gossman)

V. "Fairy Tales for Workers’ Children.” Zur Mühlen and the Socialist Fairy Tale (Written by L. Gossman)

VI. Zur Mühlen as Translator of Upton Sinclair (Written by L. Gossman)

VII. Image Portfolio (Prepared by L. Gossman)

Containing:
  1. Illustrations from Was Peterchens Freunde erzählen. Märchen von Hermynia Zur Mühlen mit Zeichnungen von Georg Grosz (Berlin: Der Malik-Verlag, 1921);
  2. Illustrations from Upton Sinclair, Hundert Prozent. Autorisierte Übersetzung von Hermynia zur Muehlen, 10 Lithographien von Georg Grosz (Berlin: Der Malik Verlag, 1921. Die Rote Romane-Serie, 2);
  3. Illustrations from Hermynia zur Mühlen, Es war einmal…und es wird sein. Märchen. Umschlag, Initialen und Bilder zeichnete Heinrich Vogeler (Berlin: Verlag der Jugendinternationale, 1930) and from Schmiede der Zukunft (Berlin: Verlag der    Jugendinternationale, 1933); 
  4. John Heartfield. Cover designs for Zur Mühlen’s translations of Sinclair’s novels.

"This translation is something of an event. For the first time, it makes Zur Mühlen’s text available to English-speaking readers in a reliable version."
"Hermynia Zur Mühlen's eminently readable memoir of her remarkable life gives a fascinating account not only of the various stages of her global and multicultural experiences but also of the European period from the late 19th to early 20th century. She possesses an almost uncanny talent for bringing to life the whole period as an astute and critical contemporary. One can only admire her gift as narrator and her sharp analytical ability. No wonder she was so highly regarded during the Weimar Period in Germany. Lionel Gossman's translation is both accurate and congenial, his 'Notes on Persons and Ends' provide a treasure trove of information. One can only hope that this important discovery finds many readers."