Gustave Kahn (1859-1936), prominent art critic and one of the founders of the Symbolist ­Movement, in 1894 published his first novel, The Mad King, which is here presented for the first time in English in an adept translation by Colin and Sue Boswell. Written when the author was living in Belgium and editing the anarchist review La Société nouvelle, The Mad King, highly experimental in nature, is a minor masterpiece of fin-de-siècle irony, chronicling, with considerable humour, the story of Christian, King of Hummertanz, and his faithful Palace Marshal, the Duke of Sparkling, via unreliable narration, acrobatic syntax, and an exceptionally rich vocabulary.

This remarkably eccentric novel, at once a study of symbols, sciences, and philosophies, and composed with a poet's pen, will be a welcome addition to any library of avant-garde literature.