This is an auction for THE HOLY SINNER by Thomas Mann.

From Wikipedia:

"German essayist, cultural critic, and novelist, Thomas Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929. Among his most famous works are Buddenbrooks, published when he was just twenty-six, The Magic Mountain, and Doctor Faustus... The Holy Sinner is a German novel written by Thomas Mann. Published in 1951 it is based on the medieval verse epic Gregorius written by the German Minnesinger Hartmann von Aue (c. 1165-1210). The book explores a subject that fascinated Thomas Mann to the end of his life—the origins of evil and evil's connection with magic. Here Mann uses a medieval legend about 'the exceeding mercy of God and the birth of the blessed Pope Gregory' as he used the Biblical account of Joseph as the basis for Joseph and His Brothers—illuminating with his post-modernist "irony" the nature and relevance of medieval philosophy to the modern world (said connexion being "illuminated" is, in fact, ironic—in the classical sense)... The story begins in Rome, with the monk Clemens announcing the ringing of bells throughout the city. Clemens, moved by the "spirit of storytelling" (a term used often in Mann's later works), introduces the reader to the events which led up to the ringing of the bells, i.e., Gregory's arrival in Rome and coronation as Pope. In Flanders duke Grimald, seventeen years a widower, is pressing his daughter Sibylla to marry in order to forge an alliance with a neighboring king. Sibylla, attracted only to her brother Wiligis, spurns the duke's wishes..."

More on Wikipedia.

Penguin paperback 1965.

228 pages.

Good condition.

The cost of shipping is $3.95.

There is of course no charge for shipping if you collect this book from my shop in Palmerston North following the auction.

Payment within seven days, please.