“FEARFUL AND WONDERFUL—HORRIBLY BRILLIANT!”

GRASS, Gunther. The Tin Drum. WITH: Cat and Mouse. WITH: Dog Years. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, (1963, 1965). New York: Pantheon / Harcourt, Brace and World, (1962, 1963, 1965). Three volumes. Octavo, original black cloth, original dust jackets. $3500.

First American editions of the Nobel Laureate’s acclaimed Danzig trilogy, signed by Grass on the dedication page of Tin Drum and Dog Years, and the title page of Cat and Mouse.

When Günter Grass was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999, his first novel, The Tin Drum was singled out for particular praise. The "publication of The Tin Drum meant a second birth for the German novel of the 20th century… It seems to stage the very march of history" (Nobel Prize Presentation Speech). Mark Van Doren praised Grass's masterpiece as "fearful and wonderful-horribly brilliant!" Grass followed up the Tin Drum with these two works that also tell about life in the Free City of Danzig before, during, and after World War II. All translated from the German by Ralph Mannheim. This first American edition of The Tin Drum was preceded by the London edition of 1961; initially published in German in 1959. Cat and Mouse was first published in German in 1961. Dog Years was first published in German in 1963.

Minor abrasion to cloth of Dog Years. Bright dust jackets with very mild toning to spine only of Tin Drum, light edge-wear to Dog Years. A near-fine set, signed in each volume.