Full Description
The amazing tales of the knight Theuerdank and his companion, Ehrenhold, comprise the last great epic verse of the late Middle Ages. The courageous knight's journey to woo his future wife, Mary of Burgundy, and his triumph in battles and other dangerous situations are the focus of this highly embellished real-life story of Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519). King of Germany before becoming Holy Roman Emperor in 1508, Maximilian was a great patron of the arts and commissioned a trilogy of ornate, illustrated books to immortalize his existence. Theuerdank, the only volume to be published during his lifetime, was composed by Melchior Pfinzing based on Maximilian's rather fanciful draft. The 118 ornate, gold-adorned woodcuts - one for each chapter - were made by Hans Burgkmair the Elder, Hans Schaufelein, and Leonhard Beck, while the typeface (known as the Theuerdank typeface and characterized by its striking elephant trunks) was specially designed for the book by the printing workshop of Hans Schsperger the Elder.
