The title of Keller's second significant collection of novellas, following "The People of Seldwyla," already indicates something special: it no longer revolves around the imaginary Swiss landscape and a deliberately indeterminate place, but rather a decisive turn towards historical reality. This edition consistently follows the last version that Keller revised and supervised in 1883 and includes important variants from manuscripts or print templates. An extensive commentary meticulously illustrates the close intertwining of the Zurich novellas with the historical situation from which they emerged.