Franz Kafka – Gesammelte Schriften, edited by Max Brod. Berlin: Schocken, 1935; Prague: Heinrich Mercy Sohn, 1936-1937. Four volumes. First edition. German.

Four of the seven volumes of the first edition of "The Collected Works of Franz Kafka" edited by Max Brod: • Volume 1: Erzählungen und kleine Prosa [Stories and short prose]. • Volume 3: Der Prozess [The Trial]. • Volume [5]: Beschreibung eines Kampfes – .Novellen, Skizzen, Aphorismen aus dem Nachlass [Description of a Struggle… from the estate]. • Volume 6: Tagebücher und Briefe [Diaries and Letters].

Max Brod and Franz Kafka were close friends for many years. Kafka, who suffered from tuberculosis and anticipated his death, instructed Brod to destroy his works upon his death. Brod, who was appointed as executor of Kafka's will, ignored the request and published all of Kafka's writings after his death.

In 1933 publication of works by Jewish writers was forbidden in Germany. The Jewish publishing house Schocken was the only one permitted to publish Jewish writers, on condition that the books will be sold to Jews only. At the time, Max Brod, through Dr. Moses Spitzer, granted Schocken the copyrights to Kafka's writings. The first four volumes of the Schocken edition of The Collected Works of Franz Kafka were published in Germany in 1935. Later, when the Nazi government placed the writings of both Kafka and Brod on a list of works banned for publication, the publishing house moved some of its activity to Prague, where the final volumes were published by Heinr. Mercy Sohn.

Four volumes. 19 cm. Good condition. Stains. Bindings with a gilt impression (Kafka's signature impressed on front boards). Minor blemishes to bindings.