First published in 1955, this volume contains three works by Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772–1801), the German Romantic philosopher and poet whose pseudonym Novalis was an ancient family name. The works, each given in the original German, include the only existing sections of Novalis's unfinished novel, Die Lehrlinge zu Sais; a selection of ideas published as a literary fragment in 1798 under the title Blütenstaub; and Die Christenheit oder Europa, an essay in cultural history. Of these, only Blütenstaub was published before Novalis's death in 1801 at the age of 28. This volume also contains a preface in English by Brian A. Rowley, which contextualizes the three works and offers a cursory description of Novalis's life.