‘Signor Formica’ (1885) is a ‘weird tale’ written by the German Romantic author E. T. A. Hoffmann, most famous for his novella ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ (1816) which inspired Tchaikovsky’s opera ‘The Nutcracker’. This classic short horror story is perfect for fans of horror and fantasy fiction and the authors H. P. Lovecraft and Neil Gaiman. Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (1776-1822), better known as E. T. A. Hoffmann, was a German Romantic author of fantasy and gothic horror. He was also a composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. Hoffmann's stories inspired several famous operatic composers including Richard Wagner, Jacques Offenbach and Léo Delibes. He is also the author of the novella ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’, on which Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet, ‘The Nutcracker’ is based. The story also inspired the film ‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ (2018), starring Keira Knightley, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren.

This early work by E. T. A. Hoffmann was originally published in 1820. Born in Königsberg, East Prussia in 1776, Hoffmann's family were all jurists, and during his youth he was initially encouraged to pursue a career in law. However, in his late teens Hoffman became increasingly interested in literature and philosophy, and spent much of his time reading German classicists and attending lectures by, amongst others, Immanuel Kant. Hoffman went on to produce a great range of both literary and musical works. Probably Hoffman's most well-known story, produced in 1816, is 'The Nutcracker and the Mouse King', due to the fact that - some seventy-six years later - it inspired Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker. In the same vein, his story 'The Sandman' provided both the inspiration for Léo Delibes's ballet Coppélia, and the basis for a highly influential essay by Sigmund Freud, called 'The Uncanny'. (Indeed, Freud referred to Hoffman as the "unrivalled master of the uncanny in literature.") Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions.

‘Weird Tales Volume 1’ (1885) was written by German Romantic author E. T. A. Hoffmann, most famous for his novella ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ (1816). Included in this first of two volumes are the short stories: The Cremona Violin, The Fermata, Signor Formica, The Sandman, The Entail and Arthur’s Hall. These classic short stories are perfect for fans of horror and fantasy fiction and the authors H. P. Lovecraft and Neil Gaiman. Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (1776-1822), better known as E. T. A. Hoffmann, was a German Romantic author of fantasy and gothic horror. He was also a composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. Hoffmann's stories inspired several famous operatic composers including Richard Wagner, Jacques Offenbach and Léo Delibes. He is also the author of the novella ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’, on which Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet, ‘The Nutcracker’ is based. The story also inspired the film ‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ (2018), starring Keira Knightley, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren.

‘The Serapion Brethren’ is the name of a literary and social circle created in Berlin in 1818 by the German romantic writer E. T. A. Hoffmann and his friends. ‘The Serapion Brethren’ is also the name of a four-volume collection of Hoffmann's novellas and fairy tales that appeared in 1819, 1820, and 1821. Volume 2 includes the stories: ‘The Life of a Well-known Character’, ‘Albertine's wooers’, ‘The Uncanny Guest’, ‘Mademoiselle Scuderi’, ‘Gamblers', ‘Fortune’, ‘Signor Formica’, ‘Phenomena’, ‘The Mutual Interdependence of Things’, ‘The King's Betrothed’. E. T. A. Hoffmann was a German romantic author, most famous for his novella ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ (1816) which inspired Tchaikovsky’s ballet ‘The Nutcracker’. These classic short stories are perfect for fans of horror and fantasy fiction and the authors H. P. Lovecraft and Neil Gaiman. Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (1776-1822), better known as E. T. A. Hoffmann, was a German romantic author of fantasy and gothic horror. He was also a composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. Hoffmann's stories inspired several famous operatic composers, including Richard Wagner, Jacques Offenbach and Léo Delibes. He is also the author of the novella ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’, on which Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet, ‘The Nutcracker’ is based. The story also inspired the film ‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ (2018), starring Keira Knightley, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren.

Ten of Hoffmann's greatest tales, enormously popular in Europe but rarely seen in the United States: "The Golden Flower Pot," "Automata," "Nutcracker and the King of Mice," "The Sand Man," and 6 others.

According to Roger Caillois, play is an occasion of pure waste. In spite of this - or because of it - play constitutes an essential element of human social and spiritual development. In this study, the author defines play as a free and voluntary activity that occurs in a pure space, isolated and protected from the rest of life.