The Manuscripts' Secret History

The Trial by Franz Kafka

Kafkaesque! This is the right word to describe this incredible, even miraculous, journey of the work of the Prague German-speaking writer. When Kafka died at 40 in 1924, he ordered his friend and executor Max Brod to burn everything down, although he had only published short texts …

Don Giovanni by Mozart

Mozart himself said about his Don Giovanni: this work is divine, it is perhaps even more beautiful than "The Marriage of Figaro". When he was commissioned by the director of the Prague theater in January 1787, he had eight months left to create one of the most powerful operas in the repertoire.

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo spent 16 years writing “Les Misérables”, between Paris, Guernsey and Waterloo. It was a long creative process and not only because the manuscript has 828 leaves. The story of the writing of “Les Miserables” was a true serial novel, very 19th century style.