August Strindberg (1849–1912) was an extraordinarily prolific writer whose col-lected works encompass no fewer than 72 volumes of drama, prose and poetry as well as 22 volumes of letters.1 In this extensive literary production, The Occult Diary occupies a unique and central position. Strindberg kept the diary from February 1896, when he moved into the Hotel Orfila in Paris, until the sum…