For a long time there was no news of Archimboldi. Despite expectations, Rivers of Europe kept selling and a second edition was printed. Soon afterward the same thing happened with The Leather Mask. Archimboldi’s name appeared in two essays on new German fiction, though he was mentioned in passing each time, as if the authors of the essays were never entirely sure that some joke wasn’t being played on them. A few young people read him. His books were cult objects, a caprice of university students.
