8vo. Original decorative purple cloth lettered in black, top edge stained black (slight lean to spine, light spotting to fore-edge); dust jacket designed by E. McKnight Kauffer (spine sunned). Provenance: The Whaler Book Shop (bookseller's ticket).

FIRST AMERICAN EDITION of the author's first novel, considered a classic supernatural work of German Expressionism. First published in 1915 in Leipzig, Meyrink’s celebrated occult novel is set in the labyrinthine Jewish ghetto of Prague and blends elements of folklore, mysticism, and psychological fantasy. The narrative follows the gem engraver Athanasius Pernath as he becomes entangled in visions and strange encounters tied to the legendary Golem—an enigmatic presence said to appear in the ghetto at intervals. Drawing upon Jewish legend, Kabbalistic symbolism, and the atmosphere of old Prague, the work became one of the most influential supernatural novels of the early twentieth century. The first English-language edition was published in London in 1928, and this American edition shortly thereafter. Barron, Horror 3-148 (first purchase title); Bleiler, Supernatural 1173 (first English edition); Locke I, p.157.