The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

MANN, Thomas. The Magic Mountain. London, Martin Secker, 1927.

First UK edition, very rare, translated by H.T. Lowe-Porter: a handsome set retaining the original slipcase.

Originally published as Der Zauberberg in 1924, The Magic Mountain is a cornerstone in twentieth-century German literature. Aligning with the tradition of the German bildungsroman, the novel unfolds Hans Castorp’s stay at a tuberculosis sanatorium in the Swiss mountains of Davos.

Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter (1876-1963) played a pivotal role in bringing Mann’s works to the English-speaking audience, translating nearly all of them for their first appearance in English. Her translations significantly contributed to the success of Mann’s oeuvre, which culminated in his receipt of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929.

Two volumes, octavo, pp. I: xii, 1-434; II: 435-900; near fine; publisher’s green cloth, lettered in gilt to cover and spine, with the original grey dust jackets printed in black and yellow, and the scarce slipcase (dust jackets slightly worn, especially at heads and tails of spines, spines a little sunned, dust jacket of vol. I with long, closed tear at hinge of spine with a little evidence of old glue repair, slipcases slightly worn and tanned in places but all intact).