Historical tracts--[Alexander the Great]

Kehr, Georg Jakob. Monarchiae asiatico-saracenicae status. Leipzig: Jakob Schuster, 1724, [4], 32pp., illustration: engraved plates cut out and mounted opposite the corresponding text, woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces, spotting

2 works in one volume, folio (256 x 184mm.), binding: eighteenth-century calf, spine gilt in compartments, red morocco lettering-piece

1st work: VD16 E4313; IA *103.299; not in Proctor, An index of German books 1501-1520

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a charming and profusely illustrated edition of johannes hartlieb's german version of the story of alexander the great.

Johannes Hartlieb (c. 1410-1468) was a Bavarian physician and diplomat as well as a prolific writer. Particularly well-known for his works on witchcraft and mysticism, it is unsurprising that Hartlieb should have turned to the Alexander Romance. The Middle Ages imposed a mystical element to Alexander's story, including his discovery of the Wonderstone in the earthly paradise, his riding of a griffon and his journeying through the depths of the sea in a diving bell, as well as moulding him into a "verray parfit gentil knyght" and a philosopher king.

Hartlieb completed his work around 1450 for Duke Albrecht III of Bavaria and his wife, Anna of Braunschweig, and it was first printed in 1473 by Johann Bamler in Augsburg. This is the first appearance of the present suite of illustrations - they were reused in a 1514 edition by Hüpfüff - which is considerably larger than those in earlier editions.