Liszt was enchanted by the natural beauty of Switzerland during his stay there in 1835-36. His experiences inspired him to compose 19 pieces in the Album d'un voyageur. The collection was published in 1842, but Liszt revised it between 1848 and 1854, and in 1855 he published the Années de pelerinage, Premiere année, Suisse, a new series of nine works (of which seven are derived from the Album d'un voyageur) and withdrew the previous collection. The pieces evoke the atmosphere of his Swiss experiences and the alpine landscape of Switzerland, with one exception: the title Vallée d'Obermann does not refer to a Swiss valley but to a novel by Sénancour (1770-1846), although the novel is indeed set in Switzerland. The inclusion of the volume features the pieces from the Album d'un voyageur that were unused, as well as the early version of three of the works, where there are significant differences. As is customary, there are two versions of the publication: a blue cloth edition and a gray softcover edition.