Fiction. Revised edition. Translated from the German by Kevin Blahut. Frontispiece by Richard Teschne. First published in 1914, this acclaimed novel is set in Prague, a city of darkened walls and strange decay which forms the backdrop for Severin's erotic adventures and fateful encounters ï a world of femmes fatales, Russian anarchists, dabblers in the occult, and denizens of decadent salons. Subitled "A Prague Ghost Story," Leppin seeks to unlock the mysterious erotic nature of his native city buried deep in the subconscious of its inhabitants. As Max Brod so aptly remarked: "Leppin was the truly chosen bard of the painfully disappearing old Prague, its infamous sidestreets and debauched nights . . . a poet of eternal disillusionment, he was at once a servant of the devil and an adorer of the Madonna."

Paul Leppin (November 27, 1878 - April 10, 1945) was a 20th century Bohemian writer of German language, who was born and lived in Prague. Although he wrote in German, he was in close contact with Czech literature. He translated Czech books and wrote articles on Czech literature. He was also an editor of two literary periodicals, Fruhling and Wir.