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Audiobook edition · 3 h 15 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the sensible life is the one that keeps you from the world you long for?
In Dresden, poor, clumsy student Anselmus hears wonders in an elder tree. Serpentina, a small golden green snake with deep blue eyes, draws him toward a hidden world. Around him, coffeehouses, clerks and tea parties carry on as though common sense can explain everything.
Archivist Lindhorst hires Anselmus to copy rare manuscripts, but his strange house unsettles the student. Meanwhile, Veronica Paulmann loves Anselmus and imagines a comfortable marriage. In E. T. A. Hoffmann’s The Golden Pot, he feels the pull of two lives: respectable security, and a world of poetry, nature and love.
What you’ll discover
- Magic amid ordinary streets Enter a Dresden where wonders break into the familiar world of clerks and coffeehouses.
- A wonderfully awkward dreamer Follow Anselmus as his clumsiness meets a longing that ordinary life cannot satisfy.
- Two futures pulling hard Feel the tension between Veronica’s comfortable hopes and Serpentina’s invitation to a hidden world.
- Common sense meets wonder Meet orderly schoolmasters and an odd archivist in a fairy tale with sly humor.
- A story told in darkness Explore twelve short vigils whose shifting narrator and dreamlike logic keep certainty out of reach.
Who will love it
This tale suits readers who love fairy stories set in real cities, dreamers who like romance mixed with comedy, and anyone who feels a better world sits behind the everyday one.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A clumsy student loses everything at the gate
- Singing snakes in the elder tree
- The archivist who is more than he seems
- Veronika turns to a witch for help
- Copying manuscripts becomes a test of faith
- Serpentina tells the story of the Salamander
- Doubt, punch, and a drop of ink
- A narrator who sits up at night
Who’s who
- AnselmusA poor, clumsy student with a childlike heart who longs for something higher and takes work copying manuscripts for the archivist.
- SerpentinaThe youngest daughter of Lindhorst, who appears as a golden-green snake with blue eyes and loves Anselmus if he can believe in her.
- Archivist LindhorstA quick-tempered Dresden official who is also a Salamander and Spirit Prince, and who guards the golden pot.
- Veronika PaulmannThe vice-principal's practical, blue-eyed elder daughter, who loves Anselmus and dreams of being a court councilor's wife.
- Vice-Principal PaulmannA sensible schoolmaster and friend of Anselmus who prefers Cicero and leeches to anything he cannot explain.
- Registrar HeerbrandA jolly, poetic official who finds Anselmus his job and loves a good punch.
- Old LiseVeronika's former nurse and the apple woman, a witch who wants the golden pot and fights the archivist.
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- Paperback
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El caldero de oro
by E. T. A. Hoffmann · 1814
A clumsy student in Dresden hears three golden-green snakes sing in an elder tree, and his life tilts toward magic.
Challenging2–5 hours to readEspañol
Excellent
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In short
What would you do if a tree began to sing to you? On a holiday afternoon in Dresden, a clumsy student named Anselmus steps into an old woman's basket of apples, loses his money, and sits alone by the river.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A clumsy student loses everything at the gate
The story opens with a small disaster. Anselmus, a student, hurries through the Black Gate of Dresden on Ascension Day and crashes into a basket of apples and cakes. The ugly old woman who sells them screams at him. He hands over his small purse to quiet her, and she calls after him that he will soon fall into crystal.
Anselmus does not understand the curse, yet the laughter in the crowd dies away. A silly accident suddenly feels like the start of something dark. He escapes along the Elbe with empty pockets. He settles under an elder tree and fills his pipe with tobacco from his friend, Vice-Principal Paulmann.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1814
- Language
- Español
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Hoffmann, E. T. A. The Golden Pot. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-golden-pot.
Hoffmann, E. T. A. (2026). The golden pot. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-golden-pot (Original work published 1814)
Hoffmann, E. T. A. The Golden Pot. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-golden-pot.
@book{hoffmann2026golden,
author = {Hoffmann, E. T. A.},
title = {The Golden Pot},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-golden-pot},
note = {First published 1814}
}
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What is The Golden Pot about?
It follows Anselmus, a poor student in Dresden who hears three snake sisters sing in an elder tree and falls in love with one. He then works for Archivist Lindhorst, a hidden Salamander, and must prove his faith against a witch.
Who is Serpentina in The Golden Pot?
Serpentina is the youngest of Lindhorst's three daughters. She appears as a golden-green snake with deep blue eyes, and later as a lovely young woman. She loves Anselmus and helps him with his work, and later comforts him during his imprisonment after he loses faith.
What does the golden pot mean?
The golden pot is a dowry for the archivist's daughters, made by an earth spirit and polished with diamond rays. At a wedding a fire lily rises from it. It stands for knowledge, poetry, and the harmony of all living things.
The author
E. T. A. Hoffmann
1776–1822 · German Romantic writer
E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776–1822) was a German writer, composer, and lawyer. He was born in Königsberg and died in Berlin. He wrote The Golden Pot (1814), The Devil’s Elixirs (1815–1816), Night Pieces (1816–1817), and The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr (1819–1821).
More by E. T. A. Hoffmann
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