The manuscripts, including some of the first editions of his work, had been owned by car giant Porsche.

The German auto manufacturer said it had acquired his library from an antiquarian book dealer in Stuttgart with a view to handing it over to the Franz Kafka Society in the Czech Republic.

The collection, which comprises some 1,000 books and other documents, has been valued at around �80,000.

Alienation

The German-Jewish-Czech Kafka was famed for his portrayals of alienation and faceless bureaucracy.

He lived from 1883 to 1924 and gave the world such classics as Metamorphosis and The Trial. He wrote almost exclusively in German.

His work is described as expressing the isolation and guilt of 20th Century man.

Kafka was virtually unknown during his lifetime, but he has since been recognised as arguably one of the last century's most influential writers.

After graduating in law from Prague's German University, he worked from 1907 to 1922 as an official in two insurance associations, but he was determined to make writing his life.

Self-critical