"The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter". Translated from the German of Richard Voss by Gustav Adolf Danziger and adapted by Ambrose Bierce, with an Introduction by Maurice Valency and illustrations by Michel Ciry, Published by The Heritage Press, 1967. Complete with Sandglass brochure and slipcase.

Slipcase, hard boards, original publisher's beige cloth, maroon color lettering on spine; 7.1/2" x 10.1/2"; ocher-yellow endpapers, xiv + 80 pages + 8 color plates [all listed plates are present]; bumped bottom corner of the pages [see photos]; very good/ fine condition.

Allegedly a rewriting from a lost German original, Ambrose Bierce's 1892 novel reads as a seamless, almost folktale-like masterpiece.

On arriving at a rural monastery, the monk Ambrosius meets a young girl, Benedicta. She is shunned by the local community for being the daughter of the local hangman, but Ambrosius is drawn into a dangerous sympathy with her, and in defiance of the community and his superiors, he starts spending time alone with her. But when her virtue is corrupted by an impetuous young man, the stage is set for a battle between heart, mind, body, spirit, the sins of the past, and redemption. Due to the reverential language of the story, it seemed at first that this would be a tale of temptation and mutual redemption, but by the end of the book, it turns into something entirely different. It's actually a beautifully crafted tale of misplaced affections and the dangers of obsession.

Danziger translated the story "Der Moench von Berchtesgaden" (The Monk of Berchtesgaden), by German novelist Richard Voss, which had been published in a German monthly magazine in 1891, into English. Danziger contracted Ambrose Bierce, who supported Danziger's literary aspirations in the late 19th century, requesting that he edit the story. It was published as "The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter," first in serial form in a San Francisco newspaper in 1891 then republished as a book in 1892.Some sources claim that is was written by Ambrose Bierce in collaboration with Gustav Adolph Danziger, yet others claim that Danziger wrote it and Ambrose Bierce was the editor. Whichever you choose to believe, it has a surprise ending and is a beautifully crafted tale. [from the review by John Williamson]

Michel Ciry (1919-2018) was a French painter and illustrator. He was a student at the Duperre School of Applied Arts in Paris from 1934 to 1937. He was appointed a member of the Society of French Painters-Engravers in 1941. He worked through painting and sculptures and he used many different mediums such as oil paint on canvas, prints, watercolor, and ink and was predominantly inspired by the 1930s.

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