Book of Heroes
Printed leaf extracted from Heldenbuch. The Hero and King.
[Strassburg: Johannn Prüss, 1483.
Price: $1,750.00
About the item
Handcolored wooduts. Sm folio (26 cm.), Woodcut 13 x 10 cm. Book of Heroes. Matted. ISTC ih00013400, Schramm 1480, Schreiber 4196.
Item #303811
The tales of the Heldenbuch were based on German medieval literature but adapted for audiences in the Renaissance. The epic poetry included in these books of heroes typically include material from the Theodoric cycle, the cycle of Hugdietrich, Wolfdietrich and Ortnit. This folio bears a handcolored woodcut recto and verso; one of a king being captured by the hero Wolfdietrich, and the verso of Wolfdietrich with shrouded corpses in a graveyard.
The Heldenbuch is one of the earliest, if not the very first, books from the presses of Johann Prüss, and one of the richest in illustration.
