Robert Walser's collection, "Works" (Aufsätze), published in 1913 by Kurt Wolff in Leipzig, was the sixth book Walser had published, but it was the first time he had found a publisher for a diverse collection of short fiction. These diverse texts, spanning various genres, were published between 1908 and 1912 in the journals Schaubühne, Die Neue Rundschau, Rheinlande, Der Samstag, and Simplicissimus.

The resemblance to school essays recalls not only Walser's first published book, "The School Essays of Fritz Kocher," but also, with a touch of ironic, foolish pretense, the title of the collection alludes to the aspect of an exercise, an etude, a demonstration of writing skill itself.