Mira – Ein Roman um Hofmannsthal, a novel by Max Brod. Published by Verlegt bei Kindler, Munich, 1958. Copy inscribed and signed by Brod: “For Stefan Schwartz, the loyal and perceptive critic of my works, Max Brod, Munich, September 1958.” Cover design by Gunter Bohmer.
Mira: Ein Roman um Hofmannsthal, a novel by Max Brod, is a literary work that offers a romanticized biographical portrayal of the world of Austrian poet and writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929), one of the central figures in Austrian and German cultural life at the turn of the 20th century. The novel is inspired by Hofmannsthal’s motto: “Every man, when he dies, takes with him a secret to the grave—how, in a spiritual sense, he managed to live.”
Included: the front of the envelope sent by Brod to Stefan Schwartz, as well as a prospectus Brod sent for his book Unambo: A Novel from the Jewish–Arab War.
Max Brod (1884–1968) was an Israeli author, publicist, and composer born in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic), then under Austro-Hungarian rule. He held a doctorate in law from Charles University in Prague and wrote in German. A close friend of Franz Kafka, he was responsible for publishing Kafka’s works after his death. Brod spent the last three decades of his life in Israel.
299 pages. 20 cm. Hardcover with the original dust jacket. Tears and missing at the top and bottom edges of the dust jacket. A persistent stain appears at the lower edge of most pages.
