Waxworks
Raphus Press:
Brasilia: 2025
First edition, Hardcover, Limited, New sans dust jacket as issued,
47 pp.
This edition limited to 35 numbered copies. “Oskar Panizza (1853-1921) is recognized today for his avant-garde approach as a writer and playwright—a confrontational stance against the repressive regime of Kaiser Wilhelm II. This bold position ultimately led to Panizza serving a year in prison following the scandal surrounding his tragicomedy, Das Liebeskonzil (The Love Council, 1894), and contributed to the deterioration of his mental health, culminating in his final years spent in a mental asylum in Bayreuth. Despite these challenges, this subversive author left a significant legacy. One of his early works that garnered the attention of notable authors such as Frank Wedekind and Otto Julius Bierbaum was the collection of short stories Dämmrungsstücke (1890). It is the first story from this collection, ‘Das Wachsfigurenkabinet,’ that we are proud to present to our readers as our new Waxworks release. Translated with notes by Thilo Sigurd Graf, this work presents a refined, almost Kafkaesque narrative infused with humor. It serves as the foundation for the translations of the short stories in (translated by Graf as Dusk Pieces), which we will work over the coming months as a Raphus exclusive series of exquisite books.” #75279
Price: $33.00