Allemagne

1517 · 15131 — Augsburg: Johann Schoensperger 1517. First Edition. 9 x 13 inches. Some paper toning and light foxing. Some leaves have an anchor-in-circle watermark and some others a crowned double-eagle.As described in Fairfax-Muray p530. The folios are unnumbered minor wear at edges see pic overall excellent. Suitable for framing. This famously beautiful font was designed by the court calligrapher and personal secretary to Maximillian -- Vinzenz Rockner and cut by Jost Dienecker of Antwerp. The Theuerdank fraktur is almost "modern" and was the model for many subsequent designs. It is embellished with ornamental flourishes . Theuerdank literally meaning "The Knight of Adventurous Thoughts" is an allegory in the form of epic verse that retells the adventures of Maximilian as he traveled to woo his future wife Mary of Burgundy. Although she died after only five years of marriage Maximilian regarded the years of his courtship as the ideal romantic interlude and the epitome of a knightly adventure. Mary was indeed the daughter of his own knightly hero Charles the Bold of Burgundy. The book is largely fictitious characterizing Maximilian as a chivalric knight in the Arthurian sense. The text is supposedly written by Melchior Pfintzing a friend of Maximilian but Maximilian himself probably composed the majority of the work. VD 16 B1649-51. Fairfax/Murray 330. [Johann Schoensperger?] unknown