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PFINTZING, Melchior (1481-1535).
[Theuerdank]. Die geuerlicheiten und einsteils der geschichten des loblichen streytparen und hochberümbten helds und Ritters herr Tewrdannckhs. Nuremberg [printed at Augsburg]: Johann Schönsperger the elder for the emperor Maximilian I, [1517].
A deluxe copy, printed on vellum for presentation by Emperor Maximilian, of the first edition of one of the finest illustrated books of the German Renaissance. Theuerdank is a chivalric poem celebrating the reign of Emperor Maximilian, who appears as the eponymous hero, and follows him as he performs feats and overcomes obstacles along a journey to win Mary of Burgundy (Kunigin Ernreich) as his bride. It forms part of a trilogy, with Weisskunig and Freydal, but was the only one of the three to be published during Maximilian's lifetime.
Maximilian himself was closely involved in all aspects of its lavish production, from its composition to its distribution after printing. He had written first drafts in 1505-1508 and turned over the completion and general editing of the work to Melchior Pfintzing, his private secretary. Maximilian called Schönsperger from Augsburg to Nuremberg to print the work in the imperial city (the only work Schönsperger printed there); a remarkable series of woodcut illustrations – among the finest of the German Renaissance – were cut, commissioned from some of the greatest woodcut artists of the day, Schäufelein, Beck and Burgkmair; and a calligraphic type was specially cast to print it. The design of the type is traditionally attributed to Vinzenz Rockner, Maximilan's court secretary, but seems to derive from the writing books of Leonhard Wagner of Augsburg. It is one of the earliest Fraktur types, which was quickly adopted as a national typographic style which lasted for centuries. Its success was undoubtedly due to the Emperor's patronage (Peter van Wingen, in Vision of a Collector, the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection in the Library of Congress, Washington 1991, 9, p. 31; A.F. Johnson, 'Printing in the Sixteenth Century', The Dolphin, 1938, pp.131-2).
The series of woodblocks similarly had a long life. Designed by a team of the best-known artists of the day and engraved under the direction of Jost Negker, a Flemish type designer and engraver who worked for Schönsperger, they were reused by the latter for a second edition in 1519 and then passed to Heinrich Steiner, who reprinted the text in 1537 and used isolated cuts for other editions. Before 1553 the set was acquired by Egenolff at Frankfurt, in whose family they remained until the end of the century. As late as 1693 the cuts were used for an edition printed at Ulm.
About 40 copies of the first edition were printed on vellum; Van Praet records 31 copies, including several without the final quire, as here. It contained a key (clavis), identifying the characters by their true names. Pasted-in slips correcting text on a few leaves in most vellum copies may indicate that they were printed before the paper copies; however, Van Wingen reached the opposite conclusion based on orthographical changes in the vellum copies (op.cit).
The edition was intended uniquely for presentation by the Emperor. Apparently Maximilian was able to give away no more than a few copies in the short period before his death in 1519, and 6 chests of copies remained in Augsburg in 1526, when their contents were distributed by Archduke Ferdinand, through Marx Treitzsauerwein, as memorials of the late Emperor. Adams P-962; Brunet V, 787; Davies, Fairfax Murray, German 329; Van Praet, Bib. du Roi IV, 347-8; Hollstein V: 416-430 (Burgkmair); Illustrated Bartsch 11: 132, 1-8 (Schaüfelein); Muther 845.
Printed on vellum, royal folio (362 x 243mm). 281 leaves (of 290, without blank P5 and postliminary quire A8). Gothic (fraktur) type, flourished, xylographic title and 118 numbered woodcuts by Jost de Negker and Heinrich Kupferworm after Leonhard Beck (77), Hans Burgkmair (13), Hans Schäufelein (20), and others. Printed correction slips on g6v, m1v, r3v, r5r, and v5r (flourishes just shaved on only 3 leaves [a2, v5 and y4,5], light discolouration on v1-2). 19th-century purple morocco gilt, spine gilt and lettered, wide gilt turn-ins, vellum endleaves, gilt edges; modern black morocco folding case. Provenance: Paul Harth (booklabel; sale Paris, 1985) – A.W. Flühmann (monogram booklabel) – J.R. Ritman (sold Sotheby’s, 6 December 2000, lot 68).
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