The Brothers Grimm: A Biography by Ann Schmiesing was released this fall. I haven't had a chance to read it yet. However, I did get to visit the GRIMMWELT Kassel this past October and feel an even greater affection for the Grimms than I ever have--and that's saying a lot. The museum in Kassel focuses more on the Grimms' German dictionary with the fairy tale work relegated more to exhibits for children. I fangirled throughout the museum.
I plan to write more about my recent experiences on Germany's Fairy Tale Road next year. But for now, this book sounds like a great way to learn more about the Brothers Grimm without having to travel. And to learn in smaller bites because the museum was like trying to feast on a year's worth of food in a single afternoon.
Book description from the publisher:
The first English-language biography in over fifty years to tell the full, vibrant story of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, known to history as the Brothers Grimm
A New Yorker “Best Book of 2024” Selection
“Ann Schmiesing . . . has brought the brothers to life in their fullness.”—Dominic Green, Wall Street Journal
“Magisterial.”—Kirkus Reviews
More than two hundred years ago, the German brothers Jacob Grimm (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859) published a collection of fairy tales that remains famous the world over. It has been translated into some 170 languages—more than any other German book—and the Brothers Grimm are among the top dozen most translated authors in the world. In addition to collecting tales, the Grimms were mythographers, linguists, librarians, civil servants, and above all the closest of brothers, but until now, the full story of their lifelong endeavor to preserve and articulate a German cultural identity has not been well known.
Drawing on deep archival research and decades of scholarship, Ann Schmiesing tells the affecting story of how the Grimms’ ambitious projects gave the brothers a sense of self-preservation through the atrocities of the Napoleonic Wars and a series of personal losses. They produced a vast corpus of work on mythology and medieval literature, embarked on a monumental German dictionary project, and broke scholarly ground with Jacob’s linguistic discovery known as Grimm’s Law. Setting their story against a rich historical backdrop, Schmiesing offers a fresh consideration of the profound and yet complicated legacy of the Brothers Grimm.
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