DIE GROSSE BURGANDER CHRONIK [THE GREAT BURGUNDIAN CHRONICLE], "ZÜRCHER SCHILLING.

Lucerne: Faksimile Verlag, 1985. No. 1 OF 980 COPIES. 391 x 273 mm. (15 3/8 x 10 3/4"). 1,035 pp. (in the facsimile). Two volumes (including commentary volume in German)..
Stately replica blind-stamped pigskin, covers with multiple floral frames, small rampant lion stamped in black ink on each central panel, raised bands, brass and leather clasps. WITH NUMEROUS LARGE MINIATURES depicting battles, sieges, assaults, floods, fires, and the burning of two unfortunates at the stake. ◆In mint condition.

The Great Burgundian Chronicle, also called the "Zürcher Schilling" (after the author and after Zürich, where it is kept), is the most original and thorough book from the period on the Burgundian Wars between the Swiss Confederation and Charles the Bold. It was executed around 1480 in the tradition of the Bern chronicles begun by Konrad Justinger in 1420, and it is the most comprehensive of all chronicles ever carried out by Schilling. The Great Burgundian Chronicle gives a unique witness as the expression of a genuine patriot, and does so without the heavy censorship that characterizes later, "official," versions of the text. One of the most important features of the manuscript's illustrations is the landscape in which the events take place. It hardly ever corresponds to topographic reality, but is rather based on the artist's imagination. The viewer sees the depicted scenes from above, being treated to fanciful versions of little towns, villages, and castles, all carefully inserted into a lovely (but imaginative) landscape of rolling hills..