Hie reitet wolfdietrich auss gen Iherusalem... c.1480
Johann Prüss
* 1447 in Herbrechtingen † 1510 in Strasbourg
Woodcut with contemporary hand colouring in yellow, red, pink and grey. Size of woodcut block: 9.6 x 12.4 cm. Size of sheet: 26.5 x 18 cm.
From: Heldenbuch: … der helden buch, das man nennet den wolfdietrich (…) Auch sagt es von dem rosengarten. Strasbourg, Johann Prüss, ca. 1480.
Literature: Schreiber XX, nos. 1397 and 1425.
A handsome and carefully coloured leaf from one of the most precious early illustrated publications North of the Alps. This collection of epic tales from the thirteenth century focused on the heroic figure Dietrich of Berne or Wolfdietrich, is one of the sources of literature on which Richard Wagner based his Ring der Nibelungen. The book is extremely rare, only nine copies are known and leaves with colouring are rarer still.
£ 4,800.-