In the Penal Colony by Kafka, Franz; Muir, Willa and Edwin (Translators); Hafftka, Michael (Artist) - 1987

[New York / South Portland, Maine]: The Limited Editions Club [printed at the Shagbark Press], 1987. Limited Edition. Wraps. Fine. Michael Hafftka. No. 351 of 800, quarto size, 56 pp., signed by Michael Hafftka. Franz Kafka (1883-1924) is considered by many to be one of the twentieth century's pre-eminent authors, fusing elements of realism with the fantastic; he is known for his use of an isolated and detached protagonist who is forced to face a bizarre, surreal predicament and has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity (n. b., info from Wikipedia).

This work was penned during the course of only two weeks, while Kafka was working on "The Trial", in 1914. Not published until 1919, it, along with much of Kafka's work, did not become widely known until after World War II, when the first translations into English were made.

Michael Hafftka, the artist, was born to Holocaust survivors in 1953 and is an American figurative expressionist painter. He has work in the permanent collections of many museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York MOMA, the San Francisco MOMA, and the Carnegie Museum of Art (n. b., info from Wikipedia and the artist's website).

___DESCRIPTION: Heavy ivory paper folded over cardboard wrap, yapped fore-edges, hand-sewn and hand-bound by Carol Joyce (Stockton, NJ), black lettering on the spine, lithographs by Michael Hafftka on hand-made Japanese paper with tissue guards throughout; printed on mould-made Magnani paper in monotype Walbaum, quarto size (10.5" by 7.25"), pagination: [i-iv] [1-4] 5-53 [54-56] [1 colophon], one of 800 copies, this number 351, signed by illustrator Michael Hafftka on the colophon. Housed in a clamshell box covered in natural linen, with tray covered in black cloth, lined with black felt, with a cream paper spine label with black lettering.

___CONDITION: Volume is fine; the paper wraps are bright and clean, without wear, the text block is strong with solid hinges, and the book is entirely free of prior owner markings; clean, crisp, as new. The clamshell box is also fine, strong and sturdy, clean, without wear.

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