Since Goethe could not subsist on his income as one of the editors of a literary periodical (published by Schlosser and Merck), in May 1772 he once more took up the practice of law, this time at Wetzlar. In 1774 he wrote the book which would bring him worldwide fame, The Sorrows of Young Werther. The broad shape of the work's plot is largely based on what Goethe experienced during his time at Wetzlar with Charlotte Buff[25] and her fiancé, Johann Christian Kestner,[25] as well as the suicide of the Goethes' friend Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem. In the latter case, Goethe made a desperate passion of what was in reality a hearty and relaxed friendship.[26] Despite the immense success of Werther, it did not bring Goethe much financial gain since the protection later afforded by copyright laws at that time virtually did not exist. In later years Goethe would counter this problem by periodically authorizing "new, revised" editions of his Complete Works.[27]