Tewrdannckh [Teuerdank]; The Adventures and a Portion of the Story of the Praiseworthy, Valiant..

London: Printed for the Holbein Society, by Wyman & Sons, 1884. Hardcover. Very good. Folio size, 600 pp. "Tewrdannckh", with its 118 wood engravings and type designed in a calligraphic style "has been described as one of the greatest books of the German Renaissance."

In format the story is "a long allegorical courtly poem written in rhymed couplets. This epic is a fictionalised account of the adventures of Maximilan as he travels to the Netherlands in 1477 to claim his bride, Mary of Burgundy, and her kingdom. Maximilian is portrayed as the chivalric knight, Teuerdank (the name roughly translates as 'noble thought') accompanied by his trusty companion Erenhold" (n.b., quotes from the web site of the Glasgow University Library).

This a facsmile printed for the Holbein Society in 1884 of the second edition (Augsburg, 1519). The glory of the work is the 118 wood engravings "designed by Hans Scheufelein, a pupil of Albert Dürer, and engraved by Jost von Negker, probably also by Scheufelein himself and other artists" (from Introduction).

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full aubergine cloth, the front with an inset rectangular decorated border, within which are two debossed gilt rectangles holding the title and "Holbein Society", spine with gilt lettering and blind-debossed decorations, both boards with triple blind-debossed narrow borders, top edge gilt, brown coated endpapers, title page in red and black, the 118 illustrations bound in throughout (with the captions, in English, in the Introduction); folio size (14 5/8" by 10 3/4"), pagination: [6, preliminary matter] [i] ii-xvi, [578 pp.].

___CONDITION: A solid, very good copy, the boards mostly clean with a few light specks, a strong, square text block, the front hinge is solid and the back hinge with the paper covering somewhat cracked but the board holding securely, and the interior is clean and bright (other than a faint few smudges); the corners are somewhat rubbed, the volume was rebacked in the past with some slight loss of cloth, with minimal prior owner markings (a vintage private library label at the top fore-edge corner of the front pastedown and (likely) prior bookshop markings in pencil at the verso of the front free endpaper).

___POSTAGE: Please note that this is an exceedingly large and heavy volume and additional postage will apply; please inquire for details.

___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.