Quatuors / pour / deux Violons, Viole, et Basse / tirés du Ballet intitulé / Die Geschöphe [sic] des Prometeus [Op. 43]. First edition of arrangement for string quartet; earliest issue with misprint "Geschöphe" on title. Upright folio (24 x 35.5 cm). Violino I: 16 p.; violino II: 15 p. (p. 1 blank); viola: 15 p. (p. 1 blank); violoncello: 14 p. (p. 1 blank). Engraved throughout. [PN] 1620. Kinsky p. 103.   Ex-libris Luisa Sormani Busca Arconati Visconti to left edge of title, scattered light foxing but overall a clean and fine copy.

The Creatures of Prometheus (German: Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus), Op. 43, is a ballet composed in 1801 by Ludwig van Beethoven following the libretto of Salvatore Viganò. The ballet premiered on 28 March 1801 at the Burgtheater in Vienna and was given 28 performances. It is the only full length ballet by Beethoven. Beethoven later based the fourth movement of his Eroica symphony and his Eroica Variations (piano) on the main theme of the last movement (Finale) of the ballet.