Theory of Colours
Goethe dictated schemes and drafts for "Dichtung und Wahrheit", after he had finished his "Theory of Colours", in summer 1810 in Carlsbad. He first worked on the autobiography in parallel to his work on "Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years"; from January 1811 on, the autobiography became his main endeavor. Goethe asked Bettina von Arnim to send him the notes that she had written down about his youth on the basis of meetings she had had with his mother out of a related interest. When Bettina had complied with this wish, the poet mainly used her notes for a depiction of his mother, "Aristeia der Mutter", which he did not include in the autobiography. He also asked Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich von Trebra, Karl Ludwig von Knebel, and Johann Friedrich Heinrich Schlosser for help.