8vo, 72-[8] pp. (missing the rare dust wrapper ill. by O. Starke). Very good copy, hardly slightly toned. Modern binding (Masui), half dark green leather, decorative paper on covers, flat gilt titled spine, top edge gilt
"The very rare legendary original book edition - an eerie fantasy of psychological transformation and social alienation -, corrected by Kafka (1883-1924), and published only a few weeks after the 1st appearance in the October issue of ""Die weisen Blätter"", nos 22/23 of the series ""Der jüngste Tag"". ""Written between November 17 and December 7, 1912 during the fit of creative passion that also saw the birth of ""Das Urteil"". This ""exceptionally repulsive story"" is the most sustained work of fiction published during Kafka's lifetime and the one with which his name is most profoundly associated in the common consciousness: it is the story of Gregor Samsa's transformation into a giant insect. The strange allegory of alienation - from the self, from one's very body, from the family, and by analogy from society, the state and the whole of mankind - is one of the defining works of the twentieth-century consciousness"" (The Breon Mitchell Collection of the Works of Franz Kafka, p. 7)"