In 1858, appeared Phantasie- und Lebensbilder (Daydreams and biographical sketches), a collection of loose translations into German from English and French.

That same year appeared Der erste des Monats (The first of the month), a German translation of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly's French book.

Notwithstanding her literary accomplishments, Alexandra suffered from a number of psychological eccentricities,[2] including a fixation with cleanliness as well as wearing only white clothes.

In her early twenties, she notably developed a delusion that as a child she had swallowed a grand piano made of glass, which remained inside her.

This delusion was the subject of a 2010 BBC Radio 3 programme called "The Glass Piano", written and narrated by poet Deborah Levy, with musical sound effects interspersed between commentary by psychoanalyst Susie Orbach and others.