Four volumes from the Insel-Bücherei series

Used; Like New/Used; Like New. Four publications of works (in German) by the Austrian poet, from the popular Insel-Bücherei series by Insel-Verlag, Leipzig (after 1945 also Frankfurt). All 7.25 x 4.5 inches (18.4 x 12.2 cm), hard cover. From the collection of American composer George Perle.
1. Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke. Insel-Bücherei No. 1. 32 pp. No date, but "401st-500th thousand" and the cover art identify the copy as belonging to the 1934 edition in "Maximilian-Gotisch" font (a Fraktur font). Signature, "Dorothea Hegum [?]", to front endpaper. Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Christoph Rilke (known in English as The Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke), written in 1899 and first published in 1904, is a fascinating work blurring the boundary between prose and poetry. After its inclusion in the new Insel-Bücherei series in 1912 (as the first volume of the series), it became Rilke's greatest commercial success in his lifetime. Slightly browned. In very good condition.
2. Der ausgewählten Gedichte erster Teil (Selected poetry, part one). Insel-Bücherei No. 400. 80 pp. Printing from 1953 in roman font. Inscription in pencil to front endpaper: "To George Perle - to thank you for the great joy of rehearsing your beautiful work / Dori Furth 2/6/75." A sheet with a typescript sonnet by Furth is inserted; if it is a translation from Rilke, then not from this volume. Label on upper board partly detached and stained. Otherwise in very good condition.
3. Briefe an einen jungen Dichter (Letters to a young poet). Insel-Bücherei No. 406. 54 pp. No date, but "161st-180th thousand" identifies the copy as belonging to the 1935 printing. Roman font. Date and signature to front endpaper, "13.9.38 Anni." Somewhat browned; otherwise in very good condition. The letters, written to an Austrian poet named Franz Xaver Kappus (1883–1966), were first published in 1929 (immediately in the Insel-Bücherei series) and became Rilke's most widely read literary product.
4. 2. Der ausgewählten Gedichte anderer Teil (Selected poetry, part two). Insel-Bücherei No. 480. 80 pp. Printing from 1952 in roman font. Inscription pencil to front endpaper: "To George Perle from Dori Furth."  Label on upper board partly detached, with some loss. Somewhat browned. Otherwise in very good condition.
Dori Furth (1912–1999), born in Berlin to Jewish parents, fled Germany in 1936 and settled in the United States in 1941. She practiced law in New York City and translated German poetry into English for the The Dessoff Choirs, where she was a member. See Zlata Fuss Phillips, German Children's and Youth Literature in Exile, 1933–1950 (Munich: Saur, 2002), pp. 87–88.