(Kafka (Franz) Die Verwandlung [Metamorphosis], first edition in book form, staining to a few leaves, text block broken, original pictorial wrappers printed in red and black, uncut, a little rubbed and soiled, rebacked preserving most of slightly frayed spine, a few neat repairs to edges and split fold of rear wrapper, lower joint broken, new red endpapers, 8vo, Leipzig, Kurt Wolff, 1916 [but 1915].

⁂ One of the most important and influential novellas of the 20th century, which first appeared in Die Weissen Blättern in 1915. 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."