Schon, Erhard. Pfintzing, Melchior [Maximillian I, of Germany]

Theuerdank [Die Geuerlicheiten und eins tells der Geschichten des . Ritters herr Tewrdanckhs

      Johann Schoensperger, Augsburg: 1517. - Folio Single leaf on paper. First Edition. Light paper toning and a few light spots. Woodcut #34 ascribed to Erhard Schon by Dodgson I,p419.Two men in the fore-ground watch a man with a crossbow shoot at a bird in a tree. A another man reacts by falling backwards. This famously beautiful font was designed by the court calligrapher and personal secretary to Maximillian -- Vinzenz Rockner and cut by Jost Dienecker of Antwerp. The Theuerdank fraktur is almost "modern" and was the model for many subsequent designs. It is embellished with ornamental flourishes . Erhard Schšn (c1491-1542). "Scholars have attributed some 1,200 illustrations for 116 books and about two hundred separate woodcuts to Erhard Schšn, making him one of the era's most prolific woodblock designers. He probably took his earliest instruction from his father, a minor Nuremberg painter, then studied Albrecht DŸrer's prints while living in the artist's house for several years." [Getty-on-line."One of the most important patrons of art in the sixteenth century was the German emperor Maximilian I. He has been noted as the last great knight of Europe and the "patron of humanistic romanticism".1 His life is best known to us today because he had such an interest in the arts, mainly as a means of immortalizing his existence. The Theuerdank is one of three large books that Maximilian commissioned. The other two, Weisskunig and Freydal were to be the first and third installments, respectively, of a trilogy highlighting Maximilian's life. Only Theuerdank was published before his death.Theuerdank, literally meaning "The Knight of Adventurous Thoughts", is an allegory in the form of epic verse that retells the adventures of Maximilian as he traveled to woo his future wife, Mary of Burgundy. Although she died after only five years of marriage, Maximilian regarded the years of his courtship as the ideal romantic interlude and the epitome of a knightly adventure. Mary was indeed the daughter of his own knightly hero, Charles the Bold of Burgundy. The book is largely fictitious, characterizing Maximilian as a chivalric knight in the Arthurian sense. The text is supposedly written by Melchior Pfintzing, a friend of Maximilian, but Maximilian himself probably composed the majority of the work." VD 16 B1649-51. Fairfax/Murray 330.