Mafia: Roman aus dem modernen Sicilien

Berlin / Charlottenburg: Axel Juncker Verlag, 1912. Third Edition. Octavo (19.5cm); publisher's illustrated oatmeal cloth with black lettering; blue topstain; 394pp+5ads. German text in gothic type. Boards a bit bumped at corners and spine ends, with a couple dark brown waterspots near fore-edge and some stray smudges to cloth. Similar spotting to fore-edge of textblock, occasionally creeping into the margins in the first few gatherings. Small stamps to flyleaf and title page; bookplate of Helen u Bernhard Wolff on front pastedown. Opens easily between a few gatherings but binding is secure. Pages unmarked. Side-stapled prospectus for the Works of Gustav Wied laid in. A New York Times article calls Mafia "a bloodcurdling story.founded on experience with the ghouls at Messina after the earthquake ["Random Notes of Berlin Books," New York Times, July 10, 1909], though the Danish author's novel first appeared in 1906 and the Messina earthquake hit in 1908. We just like the little dude on the cover. Only four institutional copies found via OCLC at time of writing.…