‎Om Begrebet Ironi med stadigt hensyn til Socrates. Af S. A. Kierkegaard. - [ARGUABLY THE BEST POSSIBLE COPY ONE CAN EVER HOPE TO ACQUIRE OF KIERKEGAARD’S DISSERTATION – ONE OF TWO COPIES ON THICK VELLUM PAPER]‎

‎Kjøbenhavn, P.G. Philipsens Forlag, 1841. 8vo. (8), 350 pp. Gift binding of elaborately blindpatterned full cloth with single gilt lines to spine. All edges gilt and printed on thick vellum paper. A splendid copy in completely unrestored state with minimal edge wear. Slight sunning to upper 1 cm of front board and slight bumping to corners and capitals. Leaves completely fresh and clean. Pencil-annotation from the Kierkegaard archive of the Royal Library (nr. 83) and discreet stamp from the Royal Library of Copenhagen to inside of front board (with a deaccession-inscription) and to verso of title-page. With ownership signatures of P.S. Lund and Troels Lund to title-page. Inside of back board with previous owner’s pencil-annotations listing the entire provenance of the copy and explaining that this is one of two copies printed on thick vellum paper. Laid in is the original agreement for the exchange of real property between the previous owner and the Royal Library of Denmark, from which is evident that in 2003, The Royal Library and the previous owner legally agreed to exchange their respective copies of Om Begrebet Ironie – the present one for Ørsted, being one of two copies on thick vellum paper, and the copy on normal paper for Heiberg, which is now in the holdings of the Royal Library of Denmark.‎

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‎Arguably the best possible copy one can ever hope to acquire of Kierkegaard’s dissertation – one of two copies on thick vellum paper, being a presentation-copy from Kierkegaard to the discoverer of electromagnetism H.C. Ørsted. Inscribed to verso of front fly-leaf: “Til / Hans Magnificens / Universitetets Rector / Hr. Conferentsraad Ørsted. / C og D.M.” (For / His Magnificence / Principle of the University / Mr. [a high Danish title, now obsolete] Ørsted. / C (ommandør) (i.e. Commander) and DM (short for Dannebrogsmand, another honourable title) ). The copy is with the Thesis, and both the day and the time has been filled in by hand. As mentioned in the introduction to the Irony, Kierkegaard had two copies made on thick vellum paper –one for himself (which is in the Royal Library of Denmark), and one for H. C. Ørsted, a towering figure of the Danish Golden Age, one of the most important scientists that Denmark has produced, then principle of the University of Copenhagen. This copy is unique among the 11 registered presentation-copies of Kierkegaard’s dissertation and is without doubt the most desirable. It is approximately twice as thick as the other copies and stand out completely. THIS IS KIERKEGAARD’S dissertation, which constitutes the culmination of three years’ intensive studies of Socrates and “the true point of departure for Kierkegaard’s authorship” (Brandes). The work is of the utmost importance in Kierkegaard’s production, not only as his first academic treatise, but also because he here introduces several themes that will be addressed in his later works. Among these we find the question of defining the subject of cognition and self-knowledge of the subject. The maxim of “know thyself” will be a constant throughout his oeuvre, as is the theory of knowledge acquisition that he deals with here. The dissertation is also noteworthy in referencing many of Hegel’s theses in a not negative context, something that Kierkegaard himself would later note with disappointment and characterize as an early, uncritical use of Hegel. Another noteworthy feature is the fact that the thesis is written in Danish, which was unheard of at the time. Kierkegaard felt that Danish was a more suitable language for the thesis and hadto petition the King to be granted permission to submit it in Danish rather than Latin. This in itself poses as certain irony, as the young Kierkegaard was known to express himself poorly and very long-winded in written Danish. One of Kierkegaard’s only true friends, his school friend H.P. Holst recounts (in 1869) how the two had a special school friendship and working relationship, in which Kierkegaard wrote Latin compositions for Holst, while Holst wrote Danish compositions for Kierkegaard, who “expressed himself in a hopelessly Latin Danish crawling with participial phrases and extraordinarily complicatedsentences” (Garff, p. 139). When Kierkegaard, in 1838, was ready to publish his famous piece on Hans Christian Andersen (see nr. 1 & 2 above), which was to appear in Heiberg’s journal Perseus, Heiberg had agreed to publish the piece, although he had some severe critical comments about the way and the form in which it was written – if it were to appear in Perseus, Heiberg demanded, at the very least, the young Kierkegaard would have to submit it in a reasonably readable Danish. “Kierkegaard therefore turned to his old schoolmate H. P. Holst and asked him to do something with the language…” (Garff, p. 139). From their school days, Holst was well aware of the problem with Kierkegaard’s Danish, and he recounts that over the summer, he actually “translated” Kierkegaard’s article on Andersen into proper Danish. The oral defense was conducted in Latin, however. The judges all agreed that the work submitted was both intelligent and noteworthy. But they were concerned about its style, which was found to be both tasteless, long-winded, and idiosyncratic. We already here witness Kierkegaard’s idiosyncratic approach to content and style that is so characteristic for all of his greatest works. Both stylistically and thematically, Kierkegaard’s and especially a clear precursor for his magnum opus Either-Or that is to be his next publication. The year 1841 is a momentous one in Kierkegaard’s life. It is the year that he completes his dissertation and commences his sojourn in Berlin, but it is also the defining year in his personal life, namely the year that he breaks off his engagement with Regine Olsen. And finally, it is the year that he begins writing Either-Or. In many ways, Either-Or is born directly out of The Concept of Irony and is the work that brings the theory of Irony to life. Part One of the dissertation concentrates on Socrates as interpreted by Xenophon, Plato, and Aristophanes, with a word on Hegel and Hegelian categories. Part Two is a more synoptic discussion of the concept of irony in Kierkegaard’s categories, with examples from other philosophers. The work constitutes Kierkegaard’s attempt at understanding the role of irony in disrupting society, and with Socrates understood through Kierkegaard, we witness a whole new way of interpreting the world before us. Wisdom is not necessarily fixed, and we ought to use Socratic ignorance to approach the world without the inherited bias of our cultures. With irony, we will be able to embrace the not knowing. We need to question the world knowing we may not find an answer. The moment we stop questioning and just accept the easy answers, we succumb to ignorance. We must use irony to laugh at ourselves in order to improve ourselves and to laugh at society in order to improve the world. The work was submitted to the Philosophical Faculty at the University of Copenhagen on June 3rd 1841. Kierkegaard had asked for his dissertation to be ready from the printer’s in ample time for him to defend it before the new semester commenced. This presumably because he had already planned his sojourn to Berlin to hear the master philosopher Schelling. On September 16th, the book was issued, and on September 29th, the defense would take place. The entire defense, including a two hour long lunch break, took seven hours, during which ”an unusually full auditorium” would listen to the official opponents F.C. Sibbern and P.O. Brøndsted as well as the seven “ex auditorio” opponents F.C. Petersen, J.L. Heiberg, P.C. Kierkegaard, Fr. Beck, F.P.J. Dahl, H .J.Thue og C.F. Christens, not to mention Kierkegaard himself. Two weeks later, on October 12th, Kierkegaard broke off his engagement with Regine Olsen (for the implications of this event, see the section about Regine in vol. II). The work appeared in two states – one with the four pages of “Theses”, for academics of the university, whereas the copies without the theses were intended for ordinary sale. These sales copies also do not have “Udgivet for Magistergraden” and “theologisk Candidat” on the title-page. The first page of the theses always contains the day “XXIX” of September written in hand, and sometimes the time “hora X” is also written in hand, but not always. In all, 11 presentation-copies of the dissertation are known, and of these only one is signed (that for Holst), all the others merely state the title and name of the recipient. As is evident from the auction catalogue of his collection, Kierkegaard had a number of copies of his dissertation in his possession when he died. Five of them were bound, and two of them were “nit. M. Guldsnit” (i.e. daintily bound and with gilt edges). These two copies were obviously meant as presentation-copies that he then never gave away. The gift copies of the dissertation were given two types of bindings, both brownish cloth, one type patterned, the other one plain, and some of them have gilt edges, but most of the plain ones do not. There exist two copies on thick vellum paper – one being Kierkegaard’s own copy, the other being the copy for H.C. Ørsted, discoverer of electromagnetism and then principle of the University of Copenhagen. “As already implied, two works of the authorship stand out in the sense that Kierkegaard sent his presentation-copies to a special circle of people: The dissertation from 1841...” (Posselt, Textspejle, p. 91, translated from Danish). Most of the copies were given to former teachers and especially to people who, due to leading positions, personified the university. “For this circle of initiated we can now, due to registered copies, confirm that Kierkegaard gave copies with handwritten dedications to the headmaster of the University H.C. Ørsted (printed on thick paper), Kolderup-Rosenvinge and to J.L. Heiberg. It is granted that Sibbern, Madvig and F.C. Petersen were also given the dissertation as a gift,... but these copies are not known (yet).” (Posselt, Textspejle, pp. 93-94, translated fromDanish). (N.b. We have since handled the copy given to Petersen and can thus confirm that it exists). The presentation-inscriptions in the 11 registered copies of the Irony all follow a certain, strict pattern. “The wording could not be briefer. In the donation of his academic treatise, the otherwise prolific Kierkegaard sticks to name, titles, and the modes of address that goes with the titles.” (Tekstspejle p. 96, translated from Danish). When presenting his later books, he always signs himself “from the author”, sometimes abbreviated (i.e. “Forf.” In stead of “Forfatteren”), unless he is mentioned by name on the title-page as the publisher, not the author, as is the case with some of the pseudonymous works. In that case he signs his inscriptions “From the publisher”, always accompanied by “in deep reverence”, “with reverence”, “with friendship” or the like, adapted to the rank of the recipient and his place on Kierkegaard’s personal scale. An academic treatise, however, published before the oral defense took place – in the mind of Kierkegaard – required certain demands in relation to the donation of it. Thus, the brevity and rigidity in the following inscriptions. With the exception of Kierkegaard Hans Christian Ørsted (1777-1851) is arguably the most famous and influential Dane ever to have lived, universally known for his discovery of Electro-magnetism in 1820, which led to new theories and discoveries that constituted the foundation of all later electro-technology. After this milestone of scientific discovery, Ørsted went on to write a number of important philosophical works on natural philosophy and empiricism, of which The Spirit in Nature is the most famous and the work he himself considered his main work. Both H.C. Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard admit to having been influenced by the writings of Ørsted. “He was an enthusiastic follower of the “Naturphilosophie” school in Germany, whose main object was the unification of physical forces, thus producing a monistic theory of the universe. It was to further this purpose that Oersted sought in actual phenomena the electro-magnetic identity of which he had already convinced himself on metaphysical grounds” (Percy H. Muir in Printing and The Mind of Man). “The natural scientist Hans Christian Ørsted was one of the most significant and influential personalities of his age and together with the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, the poet Hans Christian Andersen, and the thinker Søren Kierkegaard, constituted the small handful of figures from “The Danish Golden Age” who achieved international and even world fame.” (Troelsen in Kierkegaard and his Danish Contemporaries I: p. (215) ). In intellectual circles in Denmark at the time of Kierkegaard, Ørsted was inevitable. He influenced not only natural sciences profoundly, but also philosophy, literature, and Danish languages (coining more than 2.000 neologisms). He was furthermore rector of the university of Copenhagen, when Kierkegaard in 1841 submitted his master’s thesis On the Concept of Irony. Being the rector, Ørsted was the one who needed to pass the treatise, but having read it, he was simply not sure whether to do so or not and needed to consult other experts, before making his decision. He ended up allowing it to pass, but not without having first famously said about it (in a letter to Sibbern) that it “makes a generally unpleasant impression on me, particularly because of two things both of which I detest: verbosity and affectation.” (Kirmmmse (edt.): Encounters with Kierkegaard, p. 32). Kierkegaard makes several references to Ørsted’s Spirit in Nature and mentions him several times in his journals and notebooks. Although being of different generations and not particularly close on a personal level, the two intellectual giants would naturally be unavoidably connected in one way or the other. Ørsted was simply so centrally placed and so influential that there was no way around him for someone like Kierkegaard. Himmelstrup 8 The present copy is no. 9 in Girsel's ""Kierkegaard"" (The Catalogue) which can be found here.‎

‎Om Begrebet Ironi med stadigt hensyn til Socrates. Af S. A. Kierkegaard. - [KIERKEGAARD’S DISSERTATION IN THE ORIGINAL BINDING, WHICH IS OF THE UTMOST SCARCITY.]‎

‎Kjøbenhavn, P.G. Philipsens Forlag, 1841. 8vo. (4), 350 pp., 1 f. (blank), 2 pp. (advertisements). Completely uncut and partly unopened in the original brown cardboard binding. Rebacked with paper perfectly matching that of the boards. Corners restored. Title-page evenly browned and a few leaves with a bit of brownspotting, but overall in unusually nice condition, clean, fresh, and bright. Completely unmarked.‎

‎A fabulous copy of the first edition of Kierkegaard’s dissertation, here in the original binding, which is of the utmost scarcity. We have only seen it in this state once before. And of all the copies we have handled of the Irony over the last decades, we have only once before come across a copy with the advertisement-leaf in the back. This is virtually never present. This completely uncut copy is approximately 1 cm taller and wider than regular copies. The spines of the original Kierkegaard cardboard bindings are always just thin paper directly glued on the block, making them extremely fragile, especially on the thicker volumes. If one finds these original bindings, the spines are almost always more or less disintegrated. Kierkegaard's dissertation constitutes the culmination of three years’ intensive studies of Socrates and “the true point of departure for Kierkegaard’s authorship” (Brandes). The work is of the utmost importance in Kierkegaard’s production, not only as his first academic treatise, but also because he here introduces several themes that will be addressed in his later works. Among these we find the question of defining the subject of cognition and self-knowledge of the subject. The maxim of “know thyself” will be a constant throughout his oeuvre, as is the theory of knowledge acquisition that he deals with here. The dissertation is also noteworthy in referencing many of Hegel’s theses in a not negative context, something that Kierkegaard himself would later note with disappointment and characterize as an early, uncritical use of Hegel. Another noteworthy feature is the fact that the thesis is written in Danish, which was unheard of at the time. Kierkegaard felt that Danish was a more suitable language for the thesis and hadto petition the King to be granted permission to submit it in Danish rather than Latin. This in itself poses as certain irony, as the young Kierkegaard was known to express himself poorly and very long-winded in written Danish. One of Kierkegaard’s only true friends, his school friend H.P. Holst recounts (in 1869) how the two had a special school friendship and working relationship, in which Kierkegaard wrote Latin compositions for Holst, while Holst wrote Danish compositions for Kierkegaard, who “expressed himself in a hopelessly Latin Danish crawling with participial phrases and extraordinarily complicatedsentences” (Garff, p. 139). When Kierkegaard, in 1838, was ready to publish his famous piece on Hans Christian Andersen (see nr. 1 & 2 above), which was to appear in Heiberg’s journal Perseus, Heiberg had agreed to publish the piece, although he had some severe critical comments about the way and the form in which it was written – if it were to appear in Perseus, Heiberg demanded, at the very least, the young Kierkegaard would have to submit it in a reasonably readable Danish. “Kierkegaard therefore turned to his old schoolmate H. P. Holst and asked him to do something with the language…” (Garff, p. 139). From their school days, Holst was well aware of the problem with Kierkegaard’s Danish, and he recounts that over the summer, he actually “translated” Kierkegaard’s article on Andersen into proper Danish. The oral defense was conducted in Latin, however. The judges all agreed that the work submitted was both intelligent and noteworthy. But they were concerned about its style, which was found to be both tasteless, long-winded, and idiosyncratic. We already here witness Kierkegaard’s idiosyncratic approach to content and style that is so characteristic for all of his greatest works. Both stylistically and thematically, Kierkegaard’s and especially a clear precursor for his magnum opus Either-Or that is to be his next publication. The year 1841 is a momentous one in Kierkegaard’s life. It is the year that he completes his dissertation and commences his sojourn in Berlin, but it is also the defining year in his personal life, namely the year that he breaks off his engagement with Regine Olsen. And finally, it is the year that he begins writing Either-Or. In many ways, Either-Or is born directly out of The Concept of Irony and is the work that brings the theory of Irony to life. Part One of the dissertation concentrates on Socrates as interpreted by Xenophon, Plato, and Aristophanes, with a word on Hegel and Hegelian categories. Part Two is a more synoptic discussion of the concept of irony in Kierkegaard’s categories, with examples from other philosophers. The work constitutes Kierkegaard’s attempt at understanding the role of irony in disrupting society, and with Socrates understood through Kierkegaard, we witness a whole new way of interpreting the world before us. Wisdom is not necessarily fixed, and we ought to use Socratic ignorance to approach the world without the inherited bias of our cultures. With irony, we will be able to embrace the not knowing. We need to question the world knowing we may not find an answer. The moment we stop questioning and just accept the easy answers, we succumb to ignorance. We must use irony to laugh at ourselves in order to improve ourselves and to laugh at society in order to improve the world. The work was submitted to the Philosophical Faculty at the University of Copenhagen on June 3rd 1841. Kierkegaard had asked for his dissertation to be ready from the printer’s in ample time for him to defend it before the new semester commenced. This presumably because he had already planned his sojourn to Berlin to hear the master philosopher Schelling. On September 16th, the book was issued, and on September 29th, the defense would take place. The entire defense, including a two hour long lunch break, took seven hours, during which ”an unusually full auditorium” would listen to the official opponents F.C. Sibbern and P.O. Brøndsted as well as the seven “ex auditorio” opponents F.C. Petersen, J.L. Heiberg, P.C. Kierkegaard, Fr. Beck, F.P.J. Dahl, H .J.Thue og C.F. Christens, not to mention Kierkegaard himself. Two weeks later, on October 12th, Kierkegaard broke off his engagement with Regine Olsen (for the implications of this event, see the section about Regine in vol. II). The work appeared in two states – one with the four pages of “Theses”, for academics of the university, whereas the copies without the theses were intended for ordinary sale. These sales copies also do not have “Udgivet for Magistergraden” and “theologisk Candidat” on the title-page. The present copy is one of the sales-copies without theses. Himmelstrup 8 The present copy is no. 11 in Girsel's ""Kierkegaard"" (The Catalogue) which can be found here.‎

‎Om min Forfatter=Virksomhed.‎

‎K., 1851. Hshirtbd. Noget plettet, og lidt løs fra bindet. 20 pp.‎

‎Om min Forfatter=Virksomhed. K., 1851. 20pp.‎

‎Orig. bogtrykt omsl. Gennemgående skjold i nederste venstre hjørne.‎

‎Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 132.‎

‎Om min Forfatter=Virksomhed. K., 1851. 20pp.‎

‎Blåt blankt papiromsl. Plettet ekspl.‎

‎Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 132.‎

‎Om min Forfatter=Virksomhed. K., 1851. 20pp.‎

‎Orig. for- og bagomsl. opklæbet på pap fungerende som permer for dette hshirtbd. Lidt løs, m. stort gennemgående vandskjold.‎

‎Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 132.‎

‎Opbyggelige Taler i forskjellig Aand.(3 Afdelinger). K., 1847.‎

‎Samt. hshirtbd. m. rygforgyldn. Øvre false lidt revnede. Øvre kapitæl lidt slidt. Bortset fra skjold i sidste halvdel, pæn. (IV)+155+64+140pp.‎

‎Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 101.‎

‎Opbyggelige Taler i forskjellig Aand.(3 Afdelinger). K., 1847. (IV)+155+64+140pp.‎

‎Indb. i et lidt senere beskedent hshirtbd. Bortset fra skjold øverst på de første 60 sider, rent ekspl.‎

‎Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 101.‎

‎Opbyggelige Taler i forskjellig Aand.(3 Afdelinger).‎

‎K., 1847. Senere blåt blankt omsl. Svagt gennemgående skjold. Lettere brunplettet indimellem. (IV)+155+64+140pp.‎

‎Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 101.‎

‎Original handwritten letter for ”Min Kjære Carl” [i.e. My Dear Carl], signed ”din Onkel K” [i.e. Your Uncle K.]. - [ORIGINAL LETTER BY KIERKEGAARD, ONE OF ONLY EIGHT KNOWN ON PRIVATE HANDS]‎

‎Dated ”Berlin.” ”D. 8 Dec. 41”. 8vo. Closely written in a small, neat, Gothic script on both recto and verso, 34 lines to each. Two vertical and three horizontal folds. Neat restoration to a few of the folds. All words are legible, and the letter in overall very good condition.SKS notes that it goes for all letters that have been folded to an envelope and sealed that the opening of it has caused small damage to the manuscript. In this case, the damage is absolutely minimal, with a tiny paper flaw at the second horizontal fold at lines 3-4 from the bottom (see SKS note 3 to Letter 171).‎

‎A lengthy and truly magnificent original handwritten letter from Kierkegaard to his nephew Carl Lund, written during Kierkegaard’s first stay in Berlin right after the termination of his engagement to Regine. Original letters by Kierkegaard are of the utmost scarcity and only eight are known on private hands.In all, 318 of Kierkegaard’s letters are known, either preserved or otherwise rendered. Of these, 21 are now lost, and of the 297 still extant ones, 289 are in public institutions, almost all in Denmark. The remaining eight letters are on private hands, this being one. Needless to say, letters by Kierkegaard hardly ever appear on the market, and we have been able to trace merely two at auction or in the trade over the last 50 years.SKS has divided all of Kierkegaard’s letters into 14 groups, of which one contains the letters to the Lund family, consisting in 37 letters sent to Kierkegaard’s nephews and nieces, being children of his sisters Petrea (married to Ferdinand Lund) and Nicoline (married to Christian Lund). Of the 37 letters, eight are written during his seminal first stay in Berlin. The earliest of these letters is the present one, for Carl Lund, dated December 8, 1841, less than six weeks after Kierkegaard left for Berlin.We know from Henriette Lund (see her Erindringer fra Hjemmet) that it was of great importance for Kierkegaard to correspond with his nephews and nieces while he was abroad. Shortly before he left, he gathered his nephews and nieces and collectively urged them to write to him while he was away. They all agreed, but in tears that he was leaving the country – as was Kierkegaard himself. And they kept their promises, as is evident from the Kierkegaard letters that are still preserved. Sadly, none of the letters from his nieces and nephews have been preserved. Kierkegaard had a very close relationship with his nieces and nephews and undoubtedly wanted to stay in contact with them to follow their development, keep in touch with his family, and to uphold the close connection with them while abroad. But the correspondence was also important to Kierkegaard for another reason. He hoped to hear news about Regine. And the more he could rely on news from Copenhagen, the more he could hope to hear glimpses of news, however small, about his one big love, the one he left Copenhagen because of. Having broken off his engagement (see more about Regine and the engagement below, after Section II in vol. II), Kierkegaard almost immediately flees Copenhagen and the scandal surrounding the broken engagement. He leaves for Berlin, the first of his four stays there, clearly tortured by his decision, but also intent on not being able to go through with the engagement. This, his first stay in Berlin, is one of legend. It is a determining factor for his life as an author, with Regine as the inevitable and constant backdrop. It is here that it all really begins. It is here he begins writing Either-Or, parts of which can be read as an almost autobiographical rendering of his failed engagement. Kierkegaard left for Berlin on October 25th, 1841 and returned on March 6th, 1842, with large parts of the manuscript for Either-Or in his suitcase. We have the young existentialist genius in the making, broken and awoken by a self-torturing decision to leave his only beloved, spending four and a half months in a foreign city having fled a horrifying scandal in his hometown and finding himself as an author. This is possibly one of the most interesting and moving periods in Kierkegaard’s personal life, and holding in one’s hand a letter from him from this period cannot but move the heart of any Kierkegaard enthusiast.The present letter, written merely six weeks after having left Copenhagen, is both interesting and in many ways touching. It is written for Kierkegaard’s then 11-year old nephew Carl, who was the youngest living child of Nicoline and Christian Lund and is affectionately signed “Your uncle K”. The letter is warm and personal and shows us a side of Kierkegaard that we never see in his presentation inscriptions and that is not evident in his printed works.We see him as a caring uncle, one who makes sure to mention things from Berlin that are amusing for a child to hear about – vivid descriptions of things you would not see in Copenhagen. Of Thirgarten and of various animals here. Of how in Berlin they use dogs to pull carriages with milk from the countryside, like small horses, and how once, Kierkegaard saw a young boy acting as coachman for one of these carriages, speeding through the city. We also see him as an engaged uncle, who knows his nephew well and also cares about his intellectual progress. He is obviously concerned with Carl’s writing and spelling abilities, but he also tells him not to worry too much about writing well enough or spelling correctly – “you writevery well and with the exception of one letter, everything is so grammatically and calligraphically well that a Master of Arts could have put his name to it”.It is clear that he is not writing to a very young nephew, but to one who is old enough to understand slightly philosophical considerations, such as musings over time passing – “Time changes everything, and so it has also… changed you… In the light of this, you can now also understand how much it pleases me that you, in spite of this complete transformation, this metamorphosis… will remain unchanged in your relation to me”.The provenance of this extraordinary letter, perhaps the only Kierkegaard-letter one will ever have the opportunity to buy, is the Høyernielsen-family, descendants of Kierkegaard’s sister Nicoline.The letter is no. 171 in SKS. SKS 28: 281-82. ‎

‎Papirer. Anden forøgede udg. ved Niels Thulstrup. 16 Bd. (i 25).‎

‎K., 1968-78. 25 org. helshirtbd.‎

‎Philosophiske Smuler eller en Smule Philosophi. Af Johannes Climacus. Udgivet af S. Kierkegaard. - [A REMARKABLY FINE COPY IN THE ORIGINAL WRAPPERS]‎

‎Kjøbenhavn, Reitzel, 1844. Small 8vo. 164 pp. Completely uncut in the original printed light green wrappers with the text of the title-page repeated inside a frame to front board, printed author and title to spine, and the printing year within the same repeated frame to the back board. An almost untouched copy with just a tiny crease to the front wrapper and a tiny little nick to lower capital at back hinge. A bit of brownspotting due to the quality of the paper. Housed in an elegant green half morocco box with gilt lines and Gothic gilt lettering to spine. Green marbled paper boards and gilt super ex libris to front board (Anker Kysters Eftf. And gilt by Hagel Olsen).‎

‎A truly remarkable copy of the first edition, in completely original condition, in the fragile original wrappers, virtually untouched. We have seen copies in the original wrappers before, but never in this state. This is a truly amazing survival. In uncut state, the work is a lot larger than regular copies – more than a cm taller and also significantly wider. By many, Philosophical Fragments is considered Kierkegaard’s actual religious-philosophical main work. It is the first book written under the important pseudonym Johannes Climacus, and it is here that Kierkegaard unfolds the tension between philosophy and religion in an attempt to find a historical onset for eternal consciousness, opposing the ideological thought inherited by Plato, Aristotle and Hegel. Through Climacus, Kierkegaard contrasts the paradoxes of Christianity with Greek and modern philosophical thinking. He begins with Greek Platonic philosophy, exploring the implications of venturing beyond the Socratic understanding of truth acquired through recollection to the Christian experience of acquiring truth through grace. It is in Philosophical Fragments that Kierkegaard’s polemic against the philosophy of Hegel becomes most obvious, portraying clearly for the first time how the salvation of man can only be found through the paradoxical inversion of the rational values of speculative philosophy and through the “leap of faith” in the crucified Christ. It is here that we have the very root of Existentialism. In his preface, Kierkegaard hints at a possible “sequel [to Philosophical Fragments] in 17 pieces”" this sequel was published in 1846, namely as the 600 pages long Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments (which is 83 pages long…). Only one single presentation-copy of Philosophical Fragments is known to exist. Himmelstrup: 62. The present copy is no. 23 in Girsel's ""Kierkegaard"" (The Catalogue) which can be found here.‎

‎Samlede Værker udgivne af A. B. Drachmann, J. L. Heiberg og H. O. Lange. Anden Udgave. (15 Bind)‎

‎Kjøbenhavn, Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag, 1920-1936. 8vo. Alle bind ubeskåret og i original blå kartonnage med de originale bogtrykte rygetiketter. Enkelte bind med lidt slitage ved kapitæler, false og titeletiketter samt lettere brunplettede rygge, men overvejende i særdeles god stand. Tidligere ejers navnetræk på forsatsbladene. Et enkelt bind med indstregninger og noter i marginen ellers helt ren og frisk.‎

‎The second edition of Kierkegaard's collected works, uncut in the original blue boards with the original title labels.‎

‎Sexten opbyggelige Taler af S. Kierkegaard. - [THE SCARCEST OF ALL OF KIERKEGAARD'S BOOKS]‎

‎Kjøbenhavn, Philipsen, 1843-45. 8vo. (4) + 62 + 84 + 59 (including the blank leaf between the title-page and the preface!) + 70 + 111 pp. Nice contemporary brown half calf with quadruple gilt lines to spine and gilt Gothic lettering. A bit of wear to corners and along hinges, but a lovely, fine, and tight copy. Tape residue to inside of back board. Pencil-annotation to inside of back board and old owner’s name to front free end-paper. Brownspotting.‎

‎A lovely copy of this incredibly scarce Kierkegaard-title, which is without doubt the most difficult of them all to get hold of, being the rarest of all of his books. Kierkegaard’s Upbuilding (or Edifying) Discourses were published over the course of two years, in 1843 and 1844. In all, 18 Upbuilding Discourses were published, divided over six publications, namely: Two Upbuilding Discourses from 1843 Three Upbuilding Discourses from 1843 Four Upbuilding Discourses from 1843 Two Upbuilding Discourses from 1844 Three Upbuilding Discourses from 1844 Four Upbuilding Discourses from 1844 Each of these publications accompanied one of the main pseudonymous works, beginning with Either-Or in 1843. As opposed to his major philosophical works, the religious upbuilding discourses actually bear the name of the author on the title-page. Of course, this was by no means incidental. While the pseudonymous works could raise the question of the religiousness of the author, the parallelly written religious discourses stress the fact that we are dealing with an author, who was religious from the very beginning – an essential fact that Kierkegaard wished to stress for those interested in his authorship. In his journals, Kierkegaard clearly states that the religious discourses are as significant in his oeuvre as a whole as are the larger pseudonymous works, “I began with “Either-Or” and two upbuilding discourses...” he says, and explains that he intended the upbuilding, the religious, to advance, and that he wanted to show “that the writer was not an aesthetic author who in the course of time grew older and for that reason became religious”. (Journals, IX A 227). He was religious all along, also during all of the major philosophical publications that were not written in his name. The fact that every major pseudonymous work – up until Concluding Unscientific Postscript appeared and revealed the identity of the real author – was accompanied by one of these small Upbuilding Discourses, bears testament to the pivotal role they play in Kierkegaard’s philosophical development. Furthermore, while Kierkegaard could not present anyone with copies of his pseudonymous works (as explained above), he could indeed give away presentation-copies of his accompanying Upbuilding Discourses, which he then did. The Upbuilding Discourses are particularly interesting in several regards, one being that it is in the course of the printing of these that Kierkegaard changes his publisher. Ever since Kierkegaard had chosen to publish his first book himself, he had had his books on commission with the leading Copenhagen publisher Reitzel (the sole exception being his thesis, the Irony). That was also the case with Two Upbuilding Discourses from 1843. But for some reason, the following five publications of Upbuilding Discourses did not appear with Reitzel, but with P.G. Philipsen instead. We do not know the exact reason for this change in publishers, as the commission was exactly the same for the two. Whereas Two Upbuilding Discourses from 1843 had sold relatively well, the Three and Four Upbuilding Discourses from 1843 did not sell well. A mere 102 and 104 copies respectively out of a commission issue of 300 were sold. In an attempt at making money on these discourses in spite of the poor sales numbers, Philipsen offers to buy the unsold copies of Two Upbuilding Discourses from 1843, buys a sales issue of 300 copies of the Two Upbuilding Discourses from 1844, and makes the same agreement with Kierkegaard for the following two Discourse-publications. Sales numbers are still poor, however, and in the spring of 1845, only ca 100 copies of each of the 1844 Discourse publications have been sold. The printing issue of each was about 500, and Philipsen’s sales issue 300 thus, both Philipsen and Kierkegaard had large numbers of each Discourse-publication left, and in May 1845, they make a new deal. Philipsen buys the remainder issues of all six Discourse-publications, including the 278 copies of Two Upbuilding Discourses from 1843 from Reitzel. Philipsen has a joint title-page printed, along with a contents-leaf, and now issues the seminal Kierkegaard-publication that is no. 85 in the bibliography (Himmelstrup), namely Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses – all six publications, constituting all eighteen Upbuilding Discourses collected in one book. Seeing that there were 278 copies left of the Two Upbuilding Discourses from 1843, a maximum of 278 copies of Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses can have been made, making it one of the scarcest Kierkegaard-books. The actual number is certainly lower than 278, though, probably quite a bit lower, seeing that Philipsen continued to sell the separate publications, all copies of which he then evidently did not include in the Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses. The individual pamphlets, of course, are even scarcer, with a maximum of 232 copies of Two Upbuilding Discourses from 1843 and somewhere between 100 and 150 copies of the others. We know from the Erindringsbog fra Bianco Luno 1844 that Kierkegaard had 506 copies of Four Upbuilding Discourses 1844 printed, six of them on fine paper for presentation. Seeing that we have already established the clear thread of identity throughout all six publications, we must assume that the other pamphlets were printed in the same numbers. And we have the record of the remainder issues that Philipsen buys in 1845, which lets us conclude of the Upbuilding Discourses, that, by that time, 222 copies of Two 1843 139 copies of Three 1843 130 copies of Four 1843 120 copies of Two 1844 92 copies of Three 1844 96 copies of Four 1844 were sold out of the total number of original issues. In other words, these are extremely scarce. Not least in the original wrappers or bindings. The scarcest Kierkegaard-title that exists, however, will be found in the continuation of the printing history of the Upbuilding Discourses. It is the mythically rare title of Sixteen Upbuilding Discourses, which Philipsen issued in 1852, when the Two Upbuilding Discourses had been sold out and it was no longer possible to collect Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses. Thus, Philipsen had yet another title-page printed, this time with Sixteen Upbuilding Discourses as the title and the year 1843-45 on it, along with a new index-leaf he issued this, the scarcest of all Kierkegaard-titles, in March 1852. “It is not known how large the issue was, but it cannot have been more than 83, seeing that that was what was left of Three Upbuilding Discourses from 1843.” (Tekstspejle p. 54, translated from Danish). The idea of the Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses (let alone the Sixteen) was not Kierkegaard’s. He had agreed to the Eighteen, but it was not his intended project with the Upbuilding Discourses. Therefore, he wished for the book not to be reviewed, and he naturally did not give away any copies of the Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses, and of course not the Sixteen either, only the individual pamphlets. In all, seven presentation-copies of the different Upbuilding Discourses are registered, all being for either Heiberg or Nielsen. Curiously, neither Eighteen nor Sixteen Upbuilding Discourses were to be found in Kierkegaard’s book collection after his death. All the individual pamphlets were, however, along with a copy of the first nine Upbuilding Discourses – i.e. the three publications from 1843 – bound together. For more on the conundrum of the actual number of copies of the Upbuilding Discourses, see the Preface by Flemming Chr. Nielsen in Girsel’s Kierkegaard-catalogue, p. 19.‎

‎S. Kierkegaard's Bladartikler, med Bilag samlede efter Forfatterens Død, udgivne som Supplement til hans øvrige Skrifter af R. Nielsen. K., 1857. XVI, 296pp.‎

‎Samt. hshirtbd. Øvre kapitæl beskadiget. Nydeligt ekspl. m. kun få brune pletter.‎

‎Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 272.‎

‎S. Kierkegaard's Bladartikler, med Bilag samlede efter Forfatterens Død, udgivne som Supplement til hans øvrige Skrifter af R. Nielsen. K., XVI, 296 pp.‎

‎Nyere grå-blåt blankt omsl. Aldeles rent ekspl.‎

‎Originaludgave, uden halvtitelbl. Himmelstrup 272.‎

‎S. Kierkegaard's Bladartikler, med Bilag samlede efter Forfatterens Død, udgivne som Supplement til hans øvrige Skrifter af R. Nielsen. K., 1857. XVI, 296 pp.‎

‎Ubeskåret i nydeligt senere sort hldrbd. m. rygforgyldn. (Axel Jensen). Kun få brune pletter.‎

‎Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 272.‎

‎S. Kierkegaard's Bladartikler, med Bilag samlede efter Forfatterens Død, udgivne som Supplement til hans øvrige Skrifter af R. Nielsen.‎

‎Kjøbenhavn, Reitzels Bo og Arvinger, 1857. Velbevaret i et senere nydeligt sort papbd. med forgyldt skindtitel på ryg. XVI,296 pp. Rent frisk eksemplar.‎

‎Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 272.‎

‎S. Kierkegaards Bladartikler, med Bilag samlede efter Forfatterens Død, udgivne som Supplement til hans øvrige Skrifter af R. Nielsen. K., 1857. XVI, 296pp.‎

‎Nydeligt lidt senere hldrbd. m. rygforgyldn. Øvre fals en smule stødt. Særdeles rent og nydeligt ekspl.‎

‎Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 272.‎

‎S. Kierkegaards Bladartikler, med Bilag samlede efter Forfatterens Død, udgivne som Supplement til hans øvrige Skrifter af R. Nielsen.‎

‎K., 1857. Lidt senere simpelt hshirtbd. Her og der noget brunplettet. XVI, 296 pp.‎

‎Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 272‎

‎S. Kierkegaards Bladartikler, med Bilag samlede efter Forfatterens Død, udgivne som Supplement til hans øvrige Skrifter af R. Nielsen. + En Bladartikel, udgiven som Anhang til ""S. Kierkegaards Bladartikler"".‎

‎K., 1857 + 1859. Indb. sammen med Øieblikket 1-9, 1-4 i 3. oplag, 5-9 i 2. oplag og Dette skal siges" saa være det da sagt. Andet Oplag i ét samt. hldrbd. m. brugsspor. XVI, 29614203116233226473022 12 pp.‎

‎2 originaludgaver. Himmelstrup 272 + 287.‎

‎S.Kierkegaards Bladartikler, med Bilag samlede efter Forfatterens Død, udgivne som Supplement til hans øvrige Skrifter af R. Nielsen. K., 1857. XVI, 296 pp. + En literair Anmeldelse. To Tidsaldre, Novelle af Forfatteren til ""En Hverdagshistorie"", udgi...‎

‎Ét samt. brunt hldrbd. m. rygforgyldn., blindtrykte dekorationer og rygtitelfelter af blåt skind" false og hjørner m. brugsspor. Indvendig helt ren.‎

‎2 originaludgaver, uden halvtitelbl. Himmelstrup 272 + 100.‎

‎Stadier paa Livets Vei. Studier af Forskjellige. Sammenbragte, befordrede til trykken og udgivne af Hilarius Bogbinder. 3. udgave.‎

‎Kbhvn., C.A. reitzel, 1874. Senere halvpluviusin. IV, 463, (2). pp.‎

‎Stadier paa Livets Vei. Studier af Forskjellige. Sammenbragte, befordrede til Trykken og udgivne af Hilarius Bogbinder. - [""THE LEAP OF FAITH""]‎

‎Kjøbenhavn [Copenhagen], 1845. Lex8vo. Nice contemporary brown half cloth with gilt title to spine. Capitals worn and wear along upper front hinge. Corners worn. In spite of the wear, an attractive and tight copy. First and last leaves with a bit of brownspotting, otherwise only light occasional spotting. Old owner's signature to title-page. VIII, 383 pp.‎

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‎First edition of one of Kierkegaard's main works, ""Stages on Life's Way"", his pivotal sequal to his main work, ""Either-Or"", in which he had presented the first two stages, the aesthetic and the ethical. In ""Stages on Life's Way"", he continues his work on these stages and moves on to present also the religious stage, which takes up ab. two thirds of the work. The religious stage is that in which man attains a personal relationship with God and that in which man only truly begins to exist, as the aesthetic and ethical stages are inadequate. It is in this foundational work, in the religious stage, that Kierkegaard first properly describes what is now known as the ""Leap of Faith"" (in fact a ""leap to faith""), namely the leap that involves willing and belief in stead of reason and knowledge, the leap that you make in order to connect to God and which requires that which he calls ""the suspension of the ethical"". Stages on Life’s Way is one of Kierkegaard’s most important works. Not only does it sum up and explain some of the most important themes of Kierkegaard’s previous works, utilizing the characters and pseudonymous authors of the earlier works to do so" it goes beyond these foundational themes, introduces the religious stage, and points to the further development of the central themes in Kierkegaard’s philosophy, most of which are only fully developed in Concluding Unscientific Postscript.‎

‎Stadier paa Livets Vei. Studier af Forskjellige. Sammenbragte, befordrede til Trykken og udgivne af Hilarius Bogbinder. - [KIERKEGAARD'S OWN COPY OF THE WORK THAT INTRODUCED ""THE LEAP OF FAITH"", WITH HIS OWN HANDWRITTEN CORRECTION]‎

‎Kjøbenhavn, Reitzel, 1845. Large 8vo. (8), 383 pp. An extraordinary copy printed on very heavy vellum-paper and bound in the mid-20th century in an elegant black half Morocco binding with single gilt lines to boards" double gilt lines and Gothic gilt lettering to spine (bound by Agnete With). Top edge gilt. A bit of brownspotting throughout. With the bookplate of Henning Kehler to inside of front board and with neat pencil annotations to back free end-paper describing the history of the copy. With a handwritten correction on p. 47.‎

‎Kierkegaard’s own copy of the pivotal sequel to his main work Either-Or, one of two copies printed on special paper, with Kierkegaard’s own handwritten correction on p. 47. In Either-Or, Kierkegaard had presented the first two stages, the aesthetic and the ethical. In Stages on Life’s Way, he continues his work on these stages and moves on to present also the religious stage, which occupies approximately two thirds of the work. The religious stage is that in which man attains a personal relationship with God and that in which man only truly begins to exist, the aesthetic and ethical stages being inadequate. It is in this foundational work, in the religious stage, that Kierkegaard first properly describes what is now known as the “Leap of Faith” (in fact a “leap to faith”), namely the leap that involves willing and belief instead of reason and knowledge, the leap that you take in order to connect to God and which requires that which Kierkegaard calls “the suspension of the ethical”. Undoubtedly among Kierkegaard’s most brilliant literary achievements, Stages on Life’s Way is written in the form of different viewpoints of Kierkegaard’s many pseudonymous characters. We have both Hilarius Bookbinder, who by chance has come into possession of the documents presented in the work and has prepared them for printing. We have the famous banquet scene, which mirrors Plato’s Symposium, described by William Afham, and in which the three aesthetics participate: Johannes the Seducer, Victor Eremita, and Constatin Constantius. We have Judge William’s discourse in praise of marriage, and we have the diary, discovered by Frater Taciturnus, of a young man, who was deeply in love but felt compelled to break off his engagement. This story in form of a diary is the closest one comes to a description of Kierkegaard’s own love story, his relationship to Regine. The diary describes an engagement that has lasted for six months it alternates between the morning notes that recall the engagement and the midnight notes that put it all in perspective. The work closes with a letter to the reader from Taciturnus on the three “existence-spheres” represented by the three parts of the book. Stages on Life’s Way is one of Kierkegaard’s most important works. Not only does it sum up and explain some of the most important themes of Kierkegaard’s previous works, utilizing the characters and pseudonymous authors of the earlier works to do so it goes beyond these foundational themes, introduces the religious stage, and points to the further development of the central themes in Kierkegaard’s philosophy, most of which are only fully developed in Concluding Unscientific Postscript. Written under a pseudonym and without Kierkegaard’s name appearing as publisher or indeed anything else, he was unable to give away presentation-copies of the work (due to his own rigid set of rules for his presentation-copies). Thus, not a single presentation copy of the work exists. A single copy of the book was in the auction catalogue of his book collection after his death. In Rohde’s edition of the auction-record, this copy and its recent faith is thoroughly described. Like Repetition, Prefaces, and his other seven pseudonymous works, Stages on Life’s Way was printed in two copies each on vellum-paper and bound in special bindings, one for Regine, one for Kierkegaard himself. 24 years ago, three of these books surfaced, at an auction in 2002, namely Either-Or, Repetition, and Prefaces, all being the copies Kierkegaard had bound for Regine. Before that, only one single copy of one of these eight titles for Kierkegaard himself or for Regine were known (namely Kierkegaard’s own copy of Either-Or, which is in the Danish Royal Library). Seven of the books, Kierkegaard’s own copies, were listed in the auction catalogue after his death, but apart from the mentioned copy of Either-Or in the Royal Library, the others had not been found. Kierkegaard’s wildly famous love story and failed engagement to Regine Olsen plays a pivotal role throughout Kierkegaard’s entire life and work. It all begins in 1837, when Kierkegaard meets the lovely young girl Regine Olsen at a visit to the widowed Cathrine Rørdam. Three years later, in September 1840, after having corresponded frequently with her and visited her on numerous occasions, Kierkegaard decides to ask for her hand in marriage. She and her family accept, but the following day, Kierkegaard regrets his decision and ends up finally breaking off the engagement in October 1841. Disregarding the scandal, the heartbreak (his own included), and the numerous pleas from family members and friends alike, Kierkegaard’s tortured soul, still searching for God and for the meaning of faith, cannot continue living with the promise of marriage. Later the same month, he flees Copenhagen and the scandal surrounding the broken engagement. He leaves for Berlin, the first of his four stays there, clearly tortured by his decision, but also intent on not being able to go through with the engagement. As is evident from his posthumously published Papers, Kierkegaard’s only way out of the relationship was to play a charming, but cold, villain, a charlatan, not betraying his inner thoughts and feelings. Despite the brevity of the engagement, it has gone down in history as one of the most significant in the entire history of modern thought. It is a real-life Werther-story with the father of Existentialism as the main character, thus with the dumbfounding existentialist outcome that no-one could have foreseen. This exceedingly famous and difficult engagement became the introduction to one of the most influential authorships in the last two centuries. “She was the reason for my authorship”, Kierkegaard writes in his Papers, and there is no doubt that several of his most significant works are born out of the relationship with Regine – and its ending. It is during his stay in Berlin, his first of four altogether, right after the rupture of the engagement, that he begins writing Either-Or, parts of which can be read as an almost autobiographical rendering of his failed engagement. After a couple of years, Regine got engaged to someone else, whom she married in 1847. But as is well known, Kierkegaard never married, and the impact of his engagement to Regine and what it made him understand – about himself, about religion, faith, the inner workings of the philosopher and the poet –, never lost its significance. It is evident from the many drafts of a letter that he sent to Regine, through her husband, in 1849 (which was returned to him, unopened) that he had never lain the matter to rest and that the relationship with Regine was still very much alive. He also states in his Notebook 15 from 1849 “By the way, it is certainly the case that my relationship with her has been a very close, present study for me of what faith is. For I know better in this relationship how it is apparently the exact opposite of the foundational. That I have lasted in this relationship has been useful for me in relating to God as a believer.” In his Notebook 15, also known as My Relationship with Her, from 1849, Kierkegaard describes how, when he finally broke off the engagement and she tried to get him to stay, she had told him “that she would thank me her entire life for being allowed to stay with me, even if she were to live in a little cupboard” (SKS No. 16: 6). Thus, Kierkegaard had a little cupboard made, with no shelves in it. Here, he kept “everything that reminds me of her and will remind me of her. There is also a copy of the pseudonyms (i.e. the works that he wrote under a pseudonym) of these, there were always only two copies on vellum-paper, one for her and one for me.” (SKS: Not. 15:6.). In all, Kierkegaard wrote eight pseudonymous books, Stages on Life’s Way being one of them, all of which were evidently printed in two copies each on vellum-paper and bound in special bindings, one for Regine, one for Kierkegaard himself. This splendid copy, which is one of two specially produced copies, being Kierkegaard’s own copy, with his own correction (deleting “ikke” – i.e. “not” on p. 47), is nr. 2136 in the auction catalogue of Kierkegaard’s books sold after his death. In Rohde’s official edition of the auction catalogue, there is a lengthy note on the present copy documenting the more recent history of the copy:“Now: Mogens Müllertz, Copenhagen. Copy on vellum-paper. S.K.,’s own handwritten correction of the printing error “not” on p. 47, cf Papers XI I, p. 36. The previous owner, the author Henning Kehler, has let the book, which was originally in half calf, rebind in black half calf by Agnete With and has pasted his book plate on the inside of the front board. In 1952, Henning Kehler gave the book as a Christmas present to Mogens Müllertz in an accompanying letter Kehler writes, among other things: “even though the present book is my best and dearest, I still want you to have it. I know of no-one else to whom I would rather dispense with it.” In an article “About printing errors”, Berlingske Aftenavis 9.11.1963, Kehler touches upon this book gift: “Being a writer I am naturally hardened when it comes to printing errors, no book and no newspaper article is without errors. Søren Kierkegaard, who could even pay others – eg. Israel Levin – to proofread mentions in his Papers a printing error in “Stages on Life’s Way”, which kept vexing him. It was a “not” that had fallen out. I once owned a copy of the book that had been placed in the palisander book cabinet for Regine, and in that copy, this “not” had been added in ink and in Kierkegaard’s handwriting. I gave the book to a book-mad collector – under false pretenses, alas.” – Identification of the copy uncertain.” (pp. 110-11).Although Kehler is mistaken in the correction being adding a “not” instead of deleting one, there is no doubt that this is the copy he is referring to. The sentence on p. 47, in which the correction occurs reads “Pro dii immortals what is a woman, when she is not in fashion, per deo obsecro what is she when she is not (this being the “not” that Kierkegaard has deleted here and was vexed about) in fashion”.This copy on very heavy paper – one of the two printed like this – is approximately 1/3 thicker than normal copies of the book.The pencil annotations on the back free end-paper bear witness to the previous owner’s frustration at Kehler for having tampered with the copy. After stating that this is Kierkegaard’s personal copy, one of two on vellum-paper and copy nr. 2136 from the auction catalogue, he continues: “The copy used to have all edges gilt, a few leaves still have remains of this. The edge has been shaved at the ruthless rebinding that Henning Kehler in his complete lack of understanding of what he possessed had done.” On Kehler’s bookplate, the same previous owner has noted in neat pencil-annotation “bibliophile vandal”.In spite of the frustration with this particular book having been rebound and not kept exactly as it was, this is still an utterly amazing copy of one of Kierkegaard’s most important works – hands down the best copy there is of the work. Namely Kierkegaard’s own, with his own correction, one of two printed on heavy paper, one for Regine, one for himself. We must be thankful that, despite the “vandalism” of the rebinding, the book is still here and identified as that same copy that Kierkegaard had made for himself. Himmelstrup 78.‎