Clothes make the man – Gottfried Keller

“Clothes make the man” (Kleider machen Leute) is undoubtedly the most popular short story in the People of Seldwyla cycle. Our hero, Wenzel Strapinski, is a young journeyman tailor with a romantic spirit. Due to a misunderstanding, which he does not have the heart to clear up, Wenzel is mistaken for a rich Polish count. It is under this false identity that he seduces, despite himself, the ravishing Nanette, daughter of the president of the city. The day of the engagement arrives, the secret of the false Count Strapinski cannot be kept for much longer...

Gottfried Keller (1819–1890) was a Swiss poet and politician generally classified as a bourgeois realist. He began his career as a landscape painter. He devoted himself to "political" poetry during the period of the People's Spring of 1848, then stuck to writing. For a good fifteen years, he held the position of State Secretary of the Republic of Zurich. His best known works are Henry the Green and the short story cycle “The People of Seldwyla”, which includes the present story.

60p, 12.5x19cm, €8