Publication
Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen has been one of the more difficult of Nietzsche's titles to be translated into English, with each subsequent translation offering a new variation. Thus: Untimely Meditations (Kaufmann), Thoughts Out of Season (Ludovici), Untimely Reflections (Hayman), Unmodern Observations (Arrowsmith) and Inopportune Speculations Unfashionable Observations or Essays in Sham Smashing (H. L. Mencken).Many different plans for the series are found in Nietzsche's notebooks, most of them showing a total of thirteen essays. The titles and subjects vary with each entry, the project conceived to last six years (one essay every six months). A typical outline dated "Autumn 1873" reads as follows:
Nietzsche abandoned the project after completing only four essays, seeming to lose interest after the publication of the third.