100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Overnight NZ-wide delivery on in-stock orders 🚀

The Black Spider

Annotated Edition with an introduction by H.M. Waidson
By Jeremias Gotthelf
Series: Alma Classics 101 Pages
0.0 (0 reviews)
Brief Description
After one of their own people repeatedly fails to live up to a pact with the Devil, a petty and morally bankrupt village community is plagued by a swarm of deadly black spiders. Using a complex narrative structure, Gotthelf’s cautionary novella shrewdly dissects the iniquitous social... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$1899
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

New edition of one of the most powerful novellas which Thomas Mann saw as foretelling the advent of Nazism. Now part of Alma 101-pages series of lesser-known classics.

New edition of one of the most powerful novellas which Thomas Mann saw as foretelling the advent of Nazism. Now part of Alma 101-pages series of lesser-known classics.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

After one of their own people repeatedly fails to live up to a pact with the Devil, a petty and morally bankrupt village community is plagued by a swarm of deadly black spiders. Using a complex narrative structure, Gotthelf’s cautionary novella shrewdly dissects the iniquitous social dynamics of rural life.

First published in 1842, The Black Spider displays its author’s talent for dark satire and realism, as well as the visionary powers of his imagination.

Series: Alma Classics 101 Pages

View all
  • The Black Spider
    After one of their own people repeatedly fails to live up to a pact with the Devil, a petty and morally bankrupt village community is plagued by a swarm of deadly black spiders. Using a complex narrative structure, Gotthelf’s cautionary novella shrewdly dissects the iniquitous social dynamics of rural life. First published in 1842, The Black Spider displays its author’s...
    By Jeremias Gotthelf
    Paperback
    $1899
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Four Little Girls and Desire Caught by the Tail
    In the 1940s, Picasso wrote two plays in French: the first, Desire Caught by the Tail, was conceived during the German occupation of Paris and features a cast of grotesque allegorical characters such as the Onion, Silence, or Fat Anxiety discussing the crucial wartime themes of hunger, cold and love. The second, The Four Little Girls, came about a few...
    By Pablo Picasso
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Story of a Nobody
    A secret terrorist group infiltrates the household of a government official’s son, with a view to spying on the father and, ultimately, assassinating him. But the young man entrusted with the task – an ailing, world-weary “nobody” – seized with the purposelessness of life and a sense of his own impending death, gradually becomes disillusioned with his mission, and decides...
    By Anton Chekhov
    Paperback
    $1699
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Flush
    Written after Woolf had finished her emotionally draining work on The Waves, Flush purports to be an autobiography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s eponymous cocker spaniel, charting the dog’s early days in the countryside, his adoption by the famous poet, his subsequent life in London and his travels with his owners to Italy. While the resulting narrative is light-hearted and playful...
    By Virginia Woolf
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Sandman
    Nathanael remains haunted by his childhood fear that the lawyer Coppelius, a strange night-time visitor who used to come to his house to conduct alchemical experiments with his father—the latter dying as a consequence of one of these sessions—was none other than the Sandman, a mythical figure who was said to steal the eyes of children who refused to go...
    By E.T.A. Hoffmann
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781847499240

Publisher: Alma Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 23 August 2024

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Alma Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by H.M. Waidson

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 126.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 140g

Pages: 128

Collections

Classic Fiction Fiction General Fiction Horror & Supernatural Jeremias Gotthelf Literary Fiction Series: Alma Classics 101 Pages

About the Author

Jeremias Gotthelf (1797–1854) was a Swiss pastor whose works were heavily influenced by both his faith – as he considered his writings to be another way to cure souls – and the Bernese countryside, the setting of most of his books.

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    By Alison Espach
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    By Allen Levi
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    By Kristin Hannah
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Land
    Inspired by the mapping of Ireland in the mid nineteenth century, Land, the new novel from the author of Hamnet, is at once intimate and epic: a portrait of a family navigating a legacy of upheaval and loss with love and hope. On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great...
    By Maggie O'Farrell
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Signed Bookplate
    New Release
    Light Wielder
    THE EPIC CONCLUSION TO METAL SLINGER, AKA THE BOOK WITH THE PLOT TWIST THAT BROKE THE INTERNET Sail the seas. Master the blade. Protect your heart. What would you do to have it all? READERS ARE GOING WILD FOR *METAL SLINGER* ‘The BEST plot twist to ever grace my Kindle’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The author is a mastermind. Romantasy is back!!!!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐...
    By Rachel Schneider
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Tim's Pick Tim's Pick
    Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set
    The Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set by Brandon Sanderson is a landmark fantasy series that has captivated readers worldwide. Renowned for its innovative magic system, intricate world-building, and compelling characters, this trilogy is a must-have for any fantasy enthusiast. Immerse yourself in a world shrouded in ash, where a once-hopeful land is ruled by the tyrannical Dark Lord, known as the...
    By Brandon Sanderson
    Set
    $6499
    Elsewhere:
    $7500
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Project Hail Mary
    THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING NOVEL A BARACK OBAMA READING PICK A lone astronaut. An impossible mission. An ally he never imagined. 'The most enjoyable hard SF I have read in years' GUARDIAN 'Weir's finest work to date... This is the one book I read last year that I am certain I can recommend to anyone, no matter who, and know...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2099
    Elsewhere:
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Deal
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Deal now for the perfect fake-dating romance! She's about to make a deal with the college bad boy . . . Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Bookshop Detectives 3: Murder and Mojitos
    Art Deco glamour, a Cuban crime queen and a grammar-obsessed killer collide in the #1 best-selling Bookshop Detectives’ high-stakes final instalment. The Bookshop Detectives are on the case! Booksellers Garth and Eloise Sherlock (and their cowardly dog, Stevie) have been roped into hosting Murder and Mojitos, a glamorous Art Deco festival event starring Cuba’s queen of crime fiction. Between flapper...
    By Gareth and Louise Ward
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    20% off
    The Wrath of the Fallen
    SAMKIEL AND DIANNA WILL RETURN in the next sizzling, dark romantasy series from Amber V. Nicole. EPIC. SPICY. ADDICTIVE. Embrace the darkness . . . 'If you like romantasy, read this!' RAVEN KENNEDY 'A wicked ride from beginning to heart-shattering end. Leaving me literally screaming for more' HANNAH NICOLE MAERHER 'This is perfection. Amber Nicole's Dianna is the FMC of...
    By Amber V. Nicole
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Lizzy's Pick Lizzy's Pick
    Yesteryear
    A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE — Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE — Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE — Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS — Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale — Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...
    By Caro Claire Burke
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all