Auerbach prepared for the rabbinate, but, estranged from Jewish orthodoxy by the study of the 17th-century Dutch philosopher Benedict de Spinoza (Spinoza, Benedict de), he turned instead to literature. Spinoza's life formed the basis of his first novel (1837); a translation of Spinoza's works followed in 1841. In 1843 Auerbach began publishing the Schwarzwälder Dorfgeschichten (Black Forest Village Stories), and there later appeared novels in the same genre, among them Barfüssele (1856; Little Barefoot) and Edelweiss (1861). These sentimental works, which describe rural life, found a wide public and many imitators. They owed their popularity to Auerbach's depiction of characters, his contrasting of rural and urban settings, and his philosophical reflections.