Steppenwolf
Hermann Hesse
London, 1929
 
First edition in English, first impression. Translated by the prolific Basil Creighton. Fine, original black cloth book with red top edge, Australian bookseller sticker on front pastedown, seemingly unread and even retains the publisher’s laid-in ads. In the rare, intriguingly designed jacket that appears from time to time, but never like this one - a Fine, unsurpassably pristine copy housed in a custom case.
 
Hesse’s classic, mystically philosophical text speaks to successive generations because it taps into our bone-deep yearning for something more fulfilling than the soul-draining banalities we’re taught to appreciatively accept.
 
Reality is an especially active force in the rare book world, routinely crushing our dreams of attaining perfect copies of cherished works. Every so often, copies like this stymie its woeful force and enable our dreams to come true.