Kafka (Franz) Die Verwandlung [Metamorphosis], first edition, original pictorial wrappers printed in red and black, some very minor creasing to spine, small damp-stain to lower left-hand corner, but a remarkably sharp and near-fine example overall, preserved in custom drop-back box, Leipzig, Kurt Wolff, 1916 [but 1915].

⁂ A superb example of one of the most important and influential novellas of the 20^th century.

Die Verwandlung was one of the few works by Kafka published within his own lifetime. Kafka took a close interest in Ottomar Starke's illustration for the cover, specifying that "The insect itself must not be illustrated by a drawing. It cannot be shown at all, not even from a distance."