Eckermann tells a curious story of the way in which Goethe then continued the publication of the maxims. _Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre_ had appeared in its first form in 1821. Afterwards, in 1829, Goethe decided to remodel and lengthen it, and to make two volumes out of what had originally been only one. His secretary was employed to copy it out in its revised form. He wrote in a large hand, which gave the impression that the story might well fill even three volumes; and directions to this effect were sent to the publisher. But it was soon discovered that the last two volumes would be very thin, and the publisher asked for more manuscript. Goethe, in some perplexity, sent for Eckermann, and producing two large bundles of unpublished papers, containing, as he said, some very important things,--"opinions on life, literature, science and art, all mingled together," proposed to him to lengthen out the volumes by inserting selections from them. "You might," he suggested, "fill the gaps in the _Wanderjahre_ by making up some six or eight sheets from these detached pieces. Strictly speaking, they have nothing to do with the story; but we may justify the proceeding by the fact that I mention an archive in Makarie's house, in which such miscellanies are preserved. In this way we shall not only get over our difficulty, but find a good vehicle for giving much interesting matter to the world." Eckermann approved the plan, and divided his selection into two parts; and when the new edition of the _Wanderjahre_ appeared, one of them was styled _Aus Makariens Archiv_, and the other _Betrachtungen im Sinne der Wanderer: Kunst, Ethisches, Natur_. The remainder of the unpublished maxims appeared posthumously, either in the _Nachgelassene Werke_ in 1833, or in the quarto edition of 1836.