high school. Although the brothers were very different ¿ Jacob was serious and strong, while Wilhelm was outgoing, cheerful and asthmatic ¿ they were inseparable and totally devoted to one another. They were both determined to prove themselves to be the best students at their school, studying for more than twelve hours a day. At university, the brothers discovered the study of ancient German literature and folk tales and began to collect these fairy stories, which were eventually published in two large volumes in 1812 and 1815. The brothers worked in business and law before both becoming librarians in the King¿s library, and together they wrote many books about German literature, language and folklore, as well as beginning work on the first German dictionary. Wilhelm died in 1859, and Jacob became more solitary than ever, though he continued to work on the brothers¿ shared projects until his own death in 1863.