Tilvytis, Teofilis.

[LITHUANIAN AVANT-GARDE – FUTURIST POETRY] Išpardavimas dūšios [Selling your soul].

Kaunas: Keturių vėjų leidinys, 1928. Octavo (18 × 12 cm). Original pictorial wrappers; 43, [3] pp. Small private owner signature to title; old bookstore mark inside rear wrapper; small restoration to upper edge of rear wrapper; else about very good. Item #54578

First edition of this long satirical poem which takes aim at the saccharine pathos of various literary contemporaries: “The epigrams, parodies, and feuilletons of Teofilis Tilvytis are filled with laughter. T. Tilvytis laughed at tearful sensuality, romantic literary stamps, saccharine poetry. In his poem "Išpardavimas dūšios" (1928), wearing a clown's mask, he parodied the work of Romantics and Symbolists, such as Maironis, Faustas Kirša, Kazis Binkis, Putinas, Balys Sruoga, etc. The neurotic state characteristic of the Expressionists is here broken down into geometric lines that deliberately destroy the illusion of reality.” (h ttp:// w ww.tekstai. lt/tekstai/368-tilvytis-teofilis/7645-tilvytis-ispardavimas-dusios-1928)

Apart from Kazys Binkis, Tilvytis (1904–1969) is considered the second leading figure of the “Four Winds” (Keturi Vėjai) group. Interestingly, he later became a conservative member of the Soviet Writer’s Union who detested all things modern and adhered to a strict socialist realism. Nevertheless, at the time he was one of the most influential interpreters of the futurist style, which the Lithuanians had picked up primarily through the works of Vladimir Mayakovsky. With a striking unattributed cover.

Pictured in Jankevičiūtė, Lietuvos grafika (The Graphic Arts in Lithuania, 1918–1940), p. 142.

As of August 2024, KVK and OCLC show one copy worldwide.

Price: €1,200.00

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