Johanna Spyri: Digital edition of the first publications

Until now, Spyri's authorised texts were only available in contemporary editions in special collections or second-hand bookshops, while later editions sometimes deviated considerably from the original text.  

The digital complete edition of the first publications provides the basis for a serious academic examination of Spyri's work. Examining Johanna Spyri from a contemporary perspective offers numerous starting points, both in terms of new methodological approaches in digital humanities and from the perspective of new trends in literary studies, such as nature writing, ecocriticism, gender studies, or modern approaches to the psychology of children's characters.

However, the digital edition also offers another opportunity: to discover the work of an author who has been largely forgotten alongside the huge success of the novel Heidi. Spyri's contemporaries praised the author to the skies. Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, for example, admired her talent for writing ‘everything easily and confidently’, and Josef Viktor Widmann praised her as ‘the Gottfried Keller for young people’. The edition thus also makes a significant contribution to expanding the literary canon and raising the profile of women writers. 

In 2027, we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Johanna Spyri's birth. This is an opportunity to rediscover the author in the digital edition. The digital edition is being created in close cooperation between the Zentralbibliothek Zürich and three renowned Spyri researchers, who are producing digital transcriptions of selected texts, in some cases together with students: 

• Prof. Dr. Sonja Klimek, Christian Albrecht University of Kiel  

• Prof. Dr. Sabine Schneider, University Zurich 

• Prof. Dr. Martina Wernli, Humboldt University of Berlin   

Das Kooperationsprojekt startete bereits im Winter 2025/26, damit 2027, im Jubiläumsjahr, erste Texte online präsentiert werden können. Damit und im Rahmen der weiteren Jubiläumsaktivitäten wird das Werk von Johanna Spyri Forschung und Wissenschaft sowie der breiteren Öffentlichkeit nachhaltig bekannt gemacht.  

Transcribe the only surviving Spyri manuscript

At the end of February 2026, the ZB will launch a unique citizen science project. You can get involved and help transcribe the only surviving manuscript by Johanna Spyri. Find out more here. 

The ZB is currently working on two further digital editions.

Digital edition of the correspondence of Hans Georg and Hermann Nägeli

The digital edition of the correspondence of Hans Georg and Hermann Nägeli presents all letters written by and addressed to the Zurich music publisher Hans Georg Nägeli (1773–1836) and his son Hermann (1811–1872) that are preserved in the holdings of the Zurich Central Library. There are approximately 3,800 letters in total, written between 1790 and 1872.

Jeanne Hersch: Digital reissue of writings

The digital reissue of the writings of Jeanne Hersch (1910–2000) brings together all of Hersch's texts for the first time. These include various types of texts: monographs, contributions to anthologies, newspaper and magazine articles, interviews and recorded discussions with the philosopher. The texts are presented in their original versions, with systematic references to any later translations.

We are currently still developing our final front end. The digital edition of Johanna Spyri's first prints is scheduled to go online in 2027.