The Trial (The Collector's Library of Famous Editions)

xv, [5], 220 pp. Red full leather, gilt titles and decorations, all edges gilt, silk moire endpapers, ribbon marker bound in. Translated from the German by Willa & Edwin Muir, introduction by Erich Heller, color plates and engraved illustrations by Alan E. Cober. "Written in 1914, The Trial is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century: the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, Kafka's nightmare has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers."