The Golem : Gustav Meyrink 1928 [ First American Edition ]

Description

First American Edition of Influential Psychological Horror Novel The Golem by Gustav Meyrink

Meyrink, Gustav. Pemberton, Medge, trans. The Golem. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston and New York. 1928. First American Edition.

First American edition of the noted early surreal occult psychological horror novel, The Golem, by Gustav Meyrink, set in the Jewish community of turn of the century Prague and filled with mystical and kabbalistic themes.

Originally published in 1915 and the basis for the 1920 German expressionist silent horror film Der Golem, the book was not released in English until the first British edition, also of 1928. In his later 1933-34 expansions of his essay Supernatural Horror In Literature (first published in 1924), H.P. Lovecraft called it as one of the “best examples” of weird fiction drawing from Jewish folklore and particularly praised its treatment of the city of Prague as well as “its haunting shadowy suggestions of marvels and horrors just beyond reach”.

A noted believer in occultism and spiritualist phenomena, Meyrink based portions of the plot on his own experiences in prison when he was jailed for fraud in 1902 for purportedly managing client money at his bank with the advice of ghosts.

288pp. Purple patterned boards. Corners and spine ends bumped and worn. Cloth worn along spine joints. Pencil to front board with minor soiling to back. Bottom edges worn. Text block fore edge toned. Ex-library with stamps from Samuel Shein Memorial Library to pastedowns and endpapers. Occasional soiling. Lacks dustjacket. Fairly good.

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