"AND IF THE EARTHLY NO LONGER KNOWS YOUR NAME, / WHISPER TO THE SILENT EARTH: I'M FLOWING. / TO THE FLASHING WATER SAY: I AM."

(BALTHUS) RILKE, Rainer Maria Rilke. The Sonnets to Orpheus. New York: Limited Editions Club, (1997). Folio (13 by 16-1/2 inches), original light and dark tan cloth, uncut; housed in original clamshell box. $1800.

Signed limited first edition of this illustrated edition of Rilke's most famous work, number 208 of only 300 copies signed by the artist Balthus on the limitation page, with two multi-colored woodcuts by him.

"Rilke may well be the apotheosis of the German language" (Michael Hofmann). The poet composed these two linked cycles of 55 sonnets during his mensis mirabilis (February 1922) at the Château Muzot in the Rhone valley. The death of "a friend's innocent, intensely vital, young daughter" moved him to write, "and round the symbolical figure of Orpheus, mediator between life and death, torn in pieces but alive again in the beauty of creation, Rilke wove the rich pattern of his contemplation… [We should] associate his optimism [in these poems] with the great mystics… his humility and simplicity with St. Francis of Assisi and his individualism with Blake" (Alec Randall). According to the publisher, Balthus, who provided two illustrations for this edition, "was encouraged by Rilke to dedicate his life to the arts. The two illustrations for this edition are a tribute to his childhood friend." With side by side German and English text, translated by Stephen Mitchell. With LEC newsletter laid in.

Fine condition.