The amazing tales of the knight Theuerdank and his companion Ehrenhold constitute the last great epic verse of the late Middle Ages. The courageous knight\u2019s journey to woo his future wife, Mary of Burgundy, and his triumph in battles and other perilous acts of bravery are the focus of this highly embellished \u201creal-life\u201d story of Emperor Maximilian I (1459\u20131519).<\/p>\n
A king of Germany before becoming Holy Roman Emperor in 1508, Maximilian was a great patron of the arts, but also the first modern-age ruler to recognize its potential for propaganda. He commissioned a trilogy of luxurious illustrated books to immortalize his existence, among them Theuerdank\u2014the only volume to be published during his lifetime, composed by Melchior Pfinzing, based on Maximilian\u2019s rather fanciful draft.<\/p>\n
The 118 ornate, gold-adorned woodcuts\u2014one for each chapter\u2014were made by Hans Burgkmair the Elder, Hans Sch\u00e4ufelein, and Leonhard Beck, while the typeface (known as the Theuerdank typeface and marked by striking \u201celephant trunks\u201d) was especially designed for the book by the printing workshop of Hans Sch\u00f6nsperger the Elder.<\/p>\n
This edition, inspired by an extremely rare hand-colored original from the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, comes with an essay by Stephan F\u00fcssel (covering Maximilian\u2019s life and work, as well as his role in the art of printing and use of printed materials) and selections from Melchior Pfinzing\u2019s clavis, or \u201ckey,\u201d which was included in the original to kindly point out to Maximilian\u2019s contemporaries exactly what part of the tales were more fiction than fact.<\/p>\n
The collection also showcases the famed \u201celephant trunks\u201d typeface in double-spread fascimiles\u2014true to the original down to every stain and smudge. A chapter-by-chapter retelling of the tales in modern vernacular sheds light on the narrative strategy and real events behind the allegories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The amazing tales of the knight Theuerdank and his companion Ehrenhold constitute the last great epic verse of the late Middle Ages. The courageous knight\u2019s journey to woo his future wife, Mary of Burgundy, and his triumph in battles and other perilous acts of bravery are the focus of this highly embellished \u201creal-life\u201d story of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":36617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[4523,4525],"product_tag":[2253,1681,1649],"class_list":{"0":"post-36630","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-design-en-en","7":"product_cat-graphic-design","8":"product_tag-graphics","9":"product_tag-history","10":"product_tag-illustration","11":"pa_author_att-stephan-fussel-en","12":"pa_cover-hardcover","13":"pa_format-17-x-24-cm-en","14":"pa_isbn-9783836566209-en","15":"pa_language-eng","16":"pa_pages-398-en","17":"pa_published-2018-11-09-en","18":"pa_publisher-taschen-en-en","20":"first","21":"outofstock","22":"sold-individually","23":"shipping-taxable","24":"purchasable","25":"product-type-simple"},"yoast_head":"\n