The pianist and composer Clara Schumann (1819-1896) writes in the preface to this volume that the selection is intended to bring Robert Schumann closer to those who honor and love him as an artist, by also revealing the man behind the artist. The volume contains letters from Schumann written between the ages of 18 and 30, in which he articulated his artistic ideas. Additionally, a number of letters that Schumann wrote to his fiancée Clara Wieck until their wedding in 1840 are included. This is a reprint of the second edition published in Leipzig in 1886.