Wadham acquires C. Day-Lewis's first edition of Kafka’s ‘The Trial’.
Date Published: 16.08.2024
In Kafka’s centenary year, our Librarian, Tim Kirtley, has made an exciting addition to our special collections thanks to a very generous gift from former Wadham student, Eric P. Strauss.
Historically, the College has relied on book donations to build our special collections. Our library budget is dedicated to developing our modern lending collection, so this was a fortunate position for Tim to be in!
Tim describes how he found the new acquisition and discovered more about Kafka:
‘I hoped to acquire something from the 20th century since our collections there are not as strong as in earlier centuries. We are in Kafka’s centenary year, with lots of events going on in Oxford, including an international conference, ‘Kafka Transformed’, in Wadham on 18-20 September 2024. So, I started looking in that direction. I found in Blackwells rare books department this copy of the first English language edition of ‘The Trial’, which had been owned previously by Wadham alumnus and Poet Laureate, C. Day-Lewis. It felt like a perfect fit for the ColIege library. We already have several books from CDL's private library that we displayed at Wadham in 2022. You can watch a film about the exhibition, with our Emeritus Fellow, Bernard O’Donoghue, as guide.’
The Blackwells description for ‘The Trial’ mentioned that CDL had first used the word ‘Kafka-esque’ in 1938 but didn't provide the source. When Tim shared the news of the possible acquisition with Visiting Fellow, Ian Ellison, he learned of an earlier usage. Through his research, Ian had discovered a usage of 'Kafka-esque' by CDL in a 1936 review article in The Listener, which he found in the British Library. So, a very exciting acquisition indeed, with quite a fascinating story surrounding it. Ian discusses this further in his article in Literary Review, Metamorphosis in Meaning.
The new Wadham library bookmark, showing our copy of ‘The Trial’ commemorates this important Kafka anniversary and celebrates the latest, very special, addition to our special collections.
First edition of 'The Trial' by Kafka open on the title page.
First edition of 'The Trial' by Kafka open on the page showing C. Day-Lewis's signature.
Review of new writing by C. Day-Lewis in the BBC magazine, 'The Listener', 6 May 1936.
Review of new writing by C. Day-Lewis in the BBC magazine, 'The Listener', 6 May 1936, showing the first known use of the word 'Kafka-esque' in the description of Edward Upward’s novel, 'Journey to the Border'.
Wadham Library bookmark showing the spine of our first edition of 'The Trial'.