Third edition. S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin 1903. Published in German (Frakturschrift). Cover illustration by Wilhelm Schulz. In 1901, Thomas Mann's debut novel “Buddenbrooks” was published. He was 26 years old when he published the chronicle of the Buddenbrook family, on which he had been working for several years.The novel chronicles the decline of a wealthy north German merchant family over the course of four generations, incidentally portraying the manner of life and mores of the Hanseatic bourgeoisie in the years from 1835 to 1877. With consummate skill Thomas Mann has woven a pattern of the daily round of middle-class life, a chronicle of births, and christenings, of marriage, divorce and death, of commercial success and failures, from which he has kept away the slightest appearance of monotony or repetition. The first edition of this novel was published in 2 Vol.. From the second edition onwards, the two volumes were combined into a single complete edition (Gesamtausgabe). The first editions of "Buddenbrooks" were printed in small quantities (1000 to 2000 copies) due to uncertainty about the success and market acceptance of the work. The novel was the debut work of the then young and unknown Thomas Mann and was also very extensive. Book condition: Fair. Ffep is missing. Spine has cracking. Some rubbing to spine and boards. Edges of text block are dusty with miniscule spotting. Inside clean except some barely vissible spots.