Group of Nine "Theuerdank" Woodcuts

Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I likely penned the romanticized poem "Theuerdank" (roughly, "knightly thought") first published in 1517 himself, although his chaplain Melchoir Pfintzing and secretary Marx Treitzsauerwein are usually given partial author credit also. Its full title, auf Deutsch, is (take a deep breath) "Die geverlicheiten vnd einsteils der geschichten des loblichen streytparen vnd hochberümbten helds vnd ritters herr Tewrdannckhs," which translated as (another deep breath) "The adventures and part of the stories of the praiseworthy, valiant and most famous hero and knight, lord Teuerdank," and it tells of his 1477 journey to wed Mary of Burgundy in an Arthurian style filled with knights, castles and maidens. It was printed in Augsburg by imperial printer Hans Schönesperger in a special typeface designed for it that came to be known as "Theuerdank Fraktur." Of its 118 large woodcut engravings, several artists were employed: Leonhard Beck (12480-1552) created the most of them at 77, Albrecht Dürer's assistant Hans Schäufelein (1480-1540) created 20, and four other artists created smaller numbers. The first printing consists of 40 copies on vellum, followed by a larger edition in 1519 of approximately 300 copies on laid paper; seven more editions appeared over the next 175 years. Offered here is a group of nine illustrated leaves (pages 75, 77, 84, 88, 94, 100, 104, 106, 115) from one of the early editions. All are 13" X 8¼" and all are on heavy laid paper. All are very good or better, some with faint bits of foxing and a few faintly age toned; all are entirely free of edge tears and edge chips; only the last (p. 115) shows a bit of inoffensive dampstaining at the top (affecting neither text nor image). A magnificent assemblage of very scarce images, ideal for display, difficult to date precisely but likely early 16th century.