The volume 'Early Stories' contains all narrative short prose up to the major novella 'Death in Venice' (1912), including the famous stories 'Tonio Kröger', 'Tristan', 'Heavy Hour', 'Wälsungenblut', and others. For this edition, all prints—preprints, magazine prints, book editions—were compared, and where available, the manuscripts were consulted to ensure the best possible textual basis. The story 'Wälsungenblut' appears here for the first time again with its originally intended ending by Thomas Mann. The commentary volume for 'Early Stories' includes general information on the creation, impact, and transmission, as well as a detailed factual commentary and relevant source illustrations. The working notes for 'Death in Venice' are fully reproduced. The volume includes a separate glossary of recurring terms.