Rainer Maria Rilke
The Sonnets to Orpheus.
Simon and Schuster, 1985. First printing. Translation by Stephen Miller of "Die Sonette an Orpheus" (Insel, 1923), with translator's introduction and notes. 0671557084 183 pages.
Volume, measuring approximately 5.75" x 9.75", is bound in quarter black cloth and light blue paper-covered boards, with stamped silver lettering to spine. Book displays very light shelfwear. Binding is firm. Interior is clean and bright. Dust jacket, with price of $13.95 on front flap, displays very light shelfwear. Jacket is preserved in mylar cover.
One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German. To Rilke himself the "Sonnets to Orpheus" were "perhaps the most mysterious... in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed."