Etterlin | Kronica, Basel, 1507, modern vellum

Petermann Etterlin

[Kronica von der loblichen Eÿdtgnoschaft]. (Basel: Michael Furter, 24 December 1507)

folio (272 x 188mm.), full-page woodcut armorial, woodcut initials and illustrations, woodcut printer's device below colophon, without blank leaf [2]A1, modern vellum in period style, old red edges, lacking title-page (supplied in facsimile) and final leaf of register, occasional light staining or browning

FIRST EDITION of Etterlin's history of the Swiss Confederation, and the first printed history of Switzerland. Etterlin fought in the Burgundian wars of the 1470s before being appointed chancellor and subsequently chronicler to the town of Lucerne. Much of the text is a compilation from other sources but he did describe his own military experiences of the defeat of the Burgundian forces and the death of Charles the Bold in 1476.

The woodcuts include a view of Lucerne and Wiliam Tell; some have been ascribed to the Master D.S.

There is another issue of this work (VD16 ZV 19913) which has a longer introductory text at the start of quire [2]A and therefore no blank leaf in that quire.

LITERATURE:

VD16 E 4110