The Will to Power

catastrophe of my life, which begins with Ecce, too much." Meanwhile, the first printed sheet of Ecce (according to the stamp on the proof) had been sent on December 15, and the second on December 18, to both Gast and Nietzsche simultaneously. On December 18, Nietzsche declared (according to his own handwritten note on the sheet) that the first sheet was "ready for printing." In an undated letter (presumably from December 17), Nietzsche gave the publisher instructions to advance the translation matter: "We want to print 2 sheets of Ecce homo and make a few proofs of them on good paper, so that I can give my French and English translators, or publishers, a clear idea of what kind of work it is. I request these proofs be sent here. — (follows list of translators). When the two sheets are finished, we will start on Nietzsche contra Wagner. A few weeks will pass before all the preliminaries with translators and publishers in Paris and London are settled. —" However, already on December 18 (according to the postmark), Nietzsche partially changed his proposal: "All things considered, it seems more useful for the indicated purpose to print the title page, the preface, and the table of contents instead of the second sheet. That together then gives a clear impression. An approximate calculation of the number of sheets would also be necessary. original: "—" Should the second sheet already be half or fully printed, we will include it as well."

Suddenly, Nietzsche decided to finish the printing of Ecce homo before Nietzsche contra Wagner after all and gave instructions to that effect on a postcard dated December 20 (according to postmark): "A new