Bloomsbury to Publish Anne Frank Collection Next Year

Next year, on what would’ve marked Anne Frank’s 90th birthday, Bloomsbury Continuum will be publishing Anne Frank: The Collected Works. The collection has been described by the publisher as “an essential book for scholars and general readers alike”. The publication brings together all of Frank’s writings along with important documents and photographs.

As The Book Seller reports, the collection will be released on May 30th, the set includes both Anne’ ‘A’ and ‘B’ diaries, which are made up of the original diary and the edited one. A definitive readers version called ‘D’ is also included which has been edited by Mirjam Pressler, the German translator of Frank’s diary who has also published a book about her life.

“For the first time readers also have access to Anne’s unpublished letters, her personal reminiscences, daydreams, essays and notebook of favourite quotes all in one place,” Bloomsbury said. The book also includes essays by scholars about Frank’s life, her family, and the history of her diary.

The collection is published with the support of the Anne Frank Fonds in Basle, Switzerland, which was formed by Anne’s father, Otto Frank, to act as guardian of Anne’s work and legacy.

Jamie Birkett, editor at Bloomsbury, who will oversee the publication, said: “We feel privileged to have the opportunity to work with the Anne Frank Fonds in Switzerland to publish this landmark book containing everything Anne Frank ever wrote. It’s hard to believe that Anne Frank would have been celebrating her 90th birthday next year; this collection will be essential for anyone who has read and loved her diary as well as those who study the Second World War and the Holocaust. It’s a fitting tribute to a short life and a disproportionally large body of work, one that has resonated with so many people since the diary was first published in the Netherlands in 1947.”

President of the Anne Frank Fonds, John D Goldsmith, said: “This volume shows the remarkable range of her literary talents. It is made all the more poignant by the fact that her young life was cut short in such a brutal and tragic manner.”