Fallada (Hans) The Drinker, first edition, light toning strip on endpaper, original boards, dust-jacket, price-clipped, evenly toned, some marks to lower panel, corners and spine ends very slightly nicked, still excellent overall, 8vo, 1952.

⁂ Originally published Der Trinker, the posthumously-published novel by German writer Hans Fallada was first started in 1944 after he was imprisoned in a criminal asylum for the attempted murder of his wife. It is autobiographical in diary form, and tells the story of a man in the grip of alcoholism. Fallada originally wrote the manuscript in code, so as to encrypt the contents of the manuscript against detection by asylum staff and officials.