The Diary of Heinrich Witt pdf download

The Diary of Heinrich Witt Volume 1

Edited by Ulrich Mücke

Book Preface

Heinrich Witt (1799-1892) was a merchant originally from Altona who spent much of his adult life in Lima and kept a diary there written in English. At the end of his life, this diary consisted of 13 volumes, probably comprising more than 11,000 pages. Ten of these 13 volumes are extant today, namely Vols. 1 through 9 and Vol. 13.

The present edition reproduces the text of these ten existing volumes as accurately as possible. That is to say, the edition contains the entire text and numerous drawings, along with all the existing appendices; there are no supplementary additions of any kind. The section “About the Edition” explains in detail what rules have been applied in preparing the present edition.

During the course of his life, Heinrich Witt wrote not only the 13 volumes of his diary but numerous other autobiographical texts as well. Of these other autobiographical writings, two diaries have been preserved, from the years 1843-44 and 1845-46; these later provided the basis for parts of the newly written 13-volume diary. These two older diaries have not been transcribed for the present edition.

They have been photographed and are reproduced in their entirety in the online edition of the diary, but not in its print edition.

An Index of Persons and Places comprising more than 15,000 names was prepared for the present edition. The reader is advised to read the “Guidelines for Using the Index of Persons and Places” before making use of the index since that can facilitate locating the persons or places searched for.

For general orientation, the reader can also use the Tables of Contents that Heinrich Witt prepared and that are extant for the first nine volumes of the diary; Witt included these at the end of the corresponding volume, and they have likewise been reproduced in the present edition at the end of the corresponding volume.

Readers who are already familiar with the partial Spanish-language editions of Heinrich Witt’s diary, and wish only to read those parts in the English original for which there are no Spanish translations, should refer for assistance to the chapter “Spanish Editions of the Diary of Heinrich Witt.”

It explains precisely what parts of the diary were translated and appear in the Spanish editions, providing page cross-references. Whoever desires a first rough overview of the content of the diary should consult the chapter “Form and Content of the Diary of Heinrich Witt.” By contrast, the three chapters following this preface provide an in-depth look at the life of Heinrich Witt, the genesis of the diary and autobiographical writing in Witt’s time.