Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - Carmilla (Kyuuketsuki Carmilla) Tokyo Sogensha 1960 With Slipcase.

[PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS]

• Author: Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.
• Translator & Editor: Hirai Teiichi (平井呈一)
• Title: 吸血鬼カーミラ (Kyuuketsuki Carmilla)
• Series: 世界恐怖小説全集 第1巻 (Sekai Kyoufu Shosetsu Zenshuu / World Horror Fiction Series, Vol. 1) — 12 volumes total
• Publisher: Tokyo Sogensha (東京創元社), Tokyo
• Year Published: 1960 (Showa 35) — Second Printing, August 1, 1960
• Format: Softcover in slipcase. Commentary by Hirai Teiichi (p. 269–).
• Language: Japanese
• Inclusions: Slipcase (present, with wear); monthly series bulletin (月報, laid in — lists all 12 volumes in the series)

[OVERVIEW]

Published in 1960 by Tokyo Sogensha — Japan's foremost publisher of mystery and horror fiction — this volume inaugurates the Sekai Kyoufu Shosetsu Zenshuu (World Horror Fiction Series) with the work that deserves to open any such collection: Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, the female vampire novella that preceded Stoker's Dracula by a quarter century and remains, in the judgment of many, the more psychologically disturbing of the two. The translator and editor is Hirai Teiichi (平井呈一, 1902–1976) — the supreme figure of Japanese Gothic and horror translation, the man who introduced Le Fanu, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, and M. R. James to Japanese readers, and whose translations defined the aesthetic of Japanese literary horror for a generation. His extended commentary, beginning at page 269, is itself a significant document of Japanese horror criticism.

The dust jacket design — a bold, abstract composition of terracotta, black, and orange geometric forms — is a masterpiece of early-1960s Japanese book design: severe, modernist, and entirely at odds with the lush Victorian atmosphere of the text it contains. The grey slipcase, lettered simply 「世界恐怖小説全集」 in black, completes a package of considerable visual distinction.

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS: EASY AI TRANSLATION]

While the text is printed in Japanese, you can easily read and study this historic book using modern smartphone AI tools. By taking a photo of any page with your smartphone and using free apps like Google Lens, ChatGPT, or Google Translate, the embedded AI will instantly scan and translate the text on your screen layout. Language is no longer a barrier to owning and enjoying this rare piece of literary history.

[CONDITION]

Good Vintage Condition

• Slipcase: Present. Wear and age-toning consistent with 65 years. Structurally intact.
• Dust Jacket: Good. Retains strong graphic impact. Light wear to edges and spine ends.
• Binding: Tight and fully intact.
• Interior: Age-toning consistent with 1960 paper stock. No writing, no clipping. Bookseller's stamp to colophon page.
• Monthly Bulletin (月報): Present. Light age-toning. Fully legible.
• Please carefully inspect all high-resolution listing photos to verify condition.