# Is "Duino Elegies" by Rainer Maria Rilke a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke (Insel-Verlag, Leipzig, 1923) is identified by: German true first 'Duineser Elegien,' Insel-Verlag, Leipzig, 1923, printed by Gebr. Original-language true first = Insel-Verlag, Leipzig, 1923 (numbered deluxe issue of 300 plus the ordinary trade issue, both 1923).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- German true first 'Duineser Elegien,' Insel-Verlag, Leipzig, 1923, printed by Gebr
- Klingspor in Offenbach in Tiemann-Antiqua type; issued as a numbered limited edition of 300 copies (Vorzugsausgabe — the first 100 bound in full green morocco gilt at the Wiener Werkstätte, the remainder in three-quarter morocco or paper-covered boards), alongside an ordinary trade edition in red cloth lettered in gilt with text printed in black and green (refs: Sarkowski 1338
- Wilpert-Gühring 40; von Mises 94
- Ritzer E9)
- CORRECTION to the census: the first English is NOT the 1939 Leishman & Spender bilingual Hogarth edition — the English debut is the Hogarth Press edition of 1931 translated by Vita and Edward Sackville-West ('Duineser Elegien: Elegies from the Castle of Duino'), printed at the Cranach Press with wood-engraved initials by Eric Gill and format planned by Count Harry Kessler
- Publisher imprint reads Insel-Verlag, Leipzig
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rainer Maria Rilke |
| Publisher | Insel-Verlag, Leipzig |
| Year | 1923 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | German true first 'Duineser Elegien,' Insel-Verlag, Leipzig, 1923, printed by Gebr |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
German true first 'Duineser Elegien,' Insel-Verlag, Leipzig, 1923, printed by Gebr. Klingspor in Offenbach in Tiemann-Antiqua type; issued as a numbered limited edition of 300 copies (Vorzugsausgabe — the first 100 bound in full green morocco gilt at the Wiener Werkstätte, the remainder in three-quarter morocco or paper-covered boards), alongside an ordinary trade edition in red cloth lettered in gilt with text printed in black and green (refs: Sarkowski 1338; Wilpert-Gühring 40; von Mises 94; Ritzer E9). CORRECTION to the census: the first English is NOT the 1939 Leishman & Spender bilingual Hogarth edition — the English debut is the Hogarth Press edition of 1931 translated by Vita and Edward Sackville-West ('Duineser Elegien: Elegies from the Castle of Duino'), printed at the Cranach Press with wood-engraved initials by Eric Gill and format planned by Count Harry Kessler.

## Is this the true first?
Original-language true first = Insel-Verlag, Leipzig, 1923 (numbered deluxe issue of 300 plus the ordinary trade issue, both 1923). First English = Hogarth Press, London, 1931 (Vita & Edward Sackville-West). The celebrated Leishman & Spender Hogarth bilingual edition of 1939 is a 'first thus' — the second English translation, not the first English.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1939 Leishman/Spender Hogarth edition is frequently mis-sold as 'first in English' — it is first of that translation only. Modern Norton / Picador / Pushkin printings are reprints.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Duino Elegies* by Rainer Maria Rilke a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/duino-elegies
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.