The Improvisatore confounded all his doubters, not least himself: arresting, economical and sure-footed in its artistry, startlingly innovative in its portrayal of the protagonist's evolving personality and the workings of memory. But as his twenties progressed, he had a feeling of being perpetually judged and found wanting, and became sad at not having accomplished what was expected of him. Andersen became virtually a member of Collin's family, and a strong friendship grew up between himself and the second Collin son, Edvard. It was also through his novels that he gained a foothold in his day in age as a writer and became acknowledged abroad. The novel was one of Andersen’s attempts at gaining an audience.
Born into poverty in Odense on the island of Fyn, and relying on his hopes and wits when he moved to Copenhagen as a boy of only 14, Andersen was educated and adopted by the Danish upper classes through public funds administered by a distinguished civil servant, Jonas Collin. Andersen wrote a total of six novels and he published his first, The Improvisatore, in 1835. Not so much by the author's assumption of an Italian personality - it was known in Copenhagen circles that he had been in Italy from September 1833 to April 1834 - but through the richness of the personal history told and the vigor of the narration. This novel's original Danish readership was impressed, enthusiastic, and perhaps surprised when it appeared.
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