Book of Heroes
Printed leaf extracted from Heldenbuch. The Queen and Hero.
[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 1356, Schreiber 4196.
Item #303814
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 the queen who is distreesed by her husband's recent capture by the dragon so much so that she throws off her crown and tears at her hair. The verso depcits the hero Wolfdietrich approaching a castle on horseback.
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.
