An imperishable gem of German literature, Kleist's The Broken Pitcher is pure comedy. The author's handling of the theme--the judge as culprit--shows supreme mastery. This translation by Bayard Q. Morgan, originally published in 1961, is faithful in form.

"No amount of wisdom could possibly make sense of the mysterious verdict which God intended through this duel."
A new translation of a key work by one of European literature's most important early writers.
One of the few novellas written by the master German playwright, "The Duel" was considered by Thomas Mann and others to be one of the great works of German literature. The story of a virtuous woman slandered by a nobleman, it is a precise study of a subject that fascinated von Kleist: That people are sometimes seemingly punished for their very innocence.
This Is A Melville House "HybridBook"
HybridBooks are a union of print and electronic media: Purchasers of this print edition also receive Illuminations--additional curated material that expand the world of Kleist's novella through text and illustrations--at no additional charge.
To obtain the Illuminations for "The Duel "by Heinrich von Kleist, simply scan the QR code (or follow a url) found at the back of the print book, which leads to a page where you can download a file for your preferred electronic reading device.
Illuminations for "The Duel" by Heinrich von Kleist contain:
Writings by:
Paul the Deacon - J.G. Millingen - Sir Walter Scott - Johann Ludwig Uhland - Miguel de Cervantes - Andrew Lang - John Carl Blankenagel - Louis and Regis Senac - Alfred Hutton - Fiore de Liberi and a collection of the twelve laws of chivalry.
Full-color illustrations from:
Gerhard von Kugelgen - Johannes Gehrts - Jorg Breu Jungere and Pauls Hector Mair - Achilles Emperaire - George Muhlberg
Also included is The Duelist's Supplement - "The Art of Dueling: How To Shoot and Slash Your Way To Satisfaction" which includes an entire facsimile scan of Fior de Liberi's "Flower of Battle."
The Art of The Novella Series
Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.

A reprint of the J M Dent edition of 1997. Heinrich von Kleist was born and grew up in the Enlightenment and died in a suicide pact in 1811, aged only thirty-four. He left behind him literary works which are among the most disturbing and amusing of any produced in that revolutionary and romantic period.

Michael Kohlhaas has been wronged. First his finest horses were unfairly confiscated and mistreated. And things keep going worse-his servants have been beaten, his wife killed, and the lawsuits he pursues are stymied-but Kohlhaas, determined to find justice at all costs, tirelessly persists. Standing up against the bureaucratic machine of the empire, Kohlhaas becomes an indomitable figure that you can't help rooting for from start to finish. Knotty, darkly comical, magnificent in its weirdness, and one of the greatest and most influential tales in German literature, this short novel, first published in German in 1810, is now available in award-winning Michael Hofmann's sparkling new English translation.