Is My Duineser Elegien (Duino Elegies) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Insel-Verlag issued the Elegien in 1923 in TWO forms, and the census note's "300-copy limited first printing" describes only one of them
• The Vorzugsausgabe (deluxe issue) comprises 300 numbered large-paper copies on Zanders watermarked handmade Bütten, printed in red and black in Tiemann-Antiqua by Gebr
• Klingspor, Offenbach am Main; tall quarto, approximately 29 x 19.5 cm, 52 pages, uncut
• Within that 300: copies 1–100 were bound in full green gilt-decorated morocco (raised bands, inner dentelles, gilt top edge) at the Wiener Werkstätte, and the remaining 200 were issued in quarter morocco and boards or in pale blue boards; original jackets and slipcases were supplied and are frequently absent
• A handful of copies on Japan paper exist outside the numbered run — bibliographers disagree on how many (Ritzer gives three, Sarkowski five) — and are identified by the colophon, which names the recipient
• The ordinary trade edition of the same year is a separate, far larger printing (one source gives 10,000) in orange paper-covered boards with the title in black, two-colour typography, and is the copy most collectors will actually encounter

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

German original, Insel-Verlag, Leipzig, 1923, is the true first. PRECEDENCE WITHIN 1923 IS DISPUTED and buyers should be told so: most dealer descriptions state that the 300-copy Vorzugsausgabe precedes the ordinary trade edition (one dating the deluxe to June 1923 and the trade edition to October 1923), while at least one dealer describes the two as issued simultaneously. The identification points above are corroborated; the month-level sequencing is not, and no bibliography consulted settled it directly. Both 1923 issues are collected, and a trade-edition copy should be described as the ordinary first edition, not as "the" limited first. First English: Duineser Elegien: Elegies from the Castle of Duino, translated by Edward and Vita Sackville-West, Hogarth Press, London, 1931 — a small run, the earliest published English translation, and collected in its own right; the widely reprinted Leishman and Spender translation is later and is never the English first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1923 Insel printings. The reprint tells are the Insel house practice of stating the cumulative thousands on later trade impressions, and the physical separation of the two 1923 issues: absence of a hand-numbered limitation leaf, machine paper rather than Zanders Bütten, black-only rather than red-and-black printing, and the smaller ordinary format all indicate the trade edition or a later impression rather than the Vorzugsausgabe. Modern Insel and Vollständige Neuausgabe reprints are plentiful and clearly dated.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Duineser Elegien (Duino Elegies) a first edition?

A first edition of Duineser Elegien (Duino Elegies) by Rainer Maria Rilke (Insel-Verlag, Leipzig) is identified by: Insel-Verlag issued the Elegien in 1923 in TWO forms, and the census note's "300-copy limited first printing" describes only one of them.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. German original, Insel-Verlag, Leipzig, 1923, is the true first.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club issue is documented for the 1923 Insel printings. The reprint tells are the Insel house practice of stating the cumulative thousands on later trade impressions, and the physical separation of the two 1923 issues: absence of a hand-numbered limitation leaf, machine paper rather than Zanders Bütten, black-only rather than red-and-black printing, and the smaller ordinary format all indicate the trade edition or a later impression rather than the Vorzugsausgabe. Modern Insel and Vollstä

I have a first edition of Duineser Elegien (Duino Elegies) — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.