THE SAXON CHRONICLE
CHYTRAEUS, DAVID
Chronicon Saxoniae & vicinarum aliquot Gentium: Ab Anno Christi 1500. usque ad M.D. XCIII. Appendix Scriptorum certis Chronici Locis inserandorum. Additus est Index Personarum & Rerum maximè insignium copiosiss.
Leipzig, (Michael Lanzenberger)/ Henning Grosius, (1593).
Folio. Contemporary full vellum binding with visible spine bands at hinges. Small holes to boards, where the ties were attached. Handwritten name of the author on spine. Binding a little soiled and stained and with a small hole to middle of spine. Solid and sturdy. Old owner's names to title-page, all but one (J.B. Höserich) attempted erased (one of them leaving a small hole, not affecting printer's device or text) and a crowned ex library stamp. Last leaves with a small, marginal worm-hole. A mostly marginal damp stain throughout. Occasional marginal notes. Pasted-down end-papers with handwritten notes in brown ink, back end-paper with very extensive notes, including genealogical ones. Title-page with large woodcut printer's device. (2), XVIII, 969 pp., (11 - being 1 blank leaf + 10 leaves Index) ff.
First edition of Chytraeus' "Chronicle of Saxony and its Neighbouring Tribes: From 1500 up to 1593", which constitutes the continuation of and commentary on Albert Krantz’s (1448–1517) historiographical works Vandalia and Saxonia. David Chytraeus (1530-1600) was a Lutheran professor of theology at Rostock. He had been a disciple of Philip Melancthon, a German Lutheran reformer and collaborator with Martin Luther. Chytraeus attended the lectures of Martin Luther on Genesis. "The Chronicon Saxoniæ, written in the manner of annals from a religious point of view, was appreciated in all Europe. In his very carefully prepared geanological labours Chytræeus was encouraged by Duke Ulrich, and in general his historical writings bear, so to speak, the official stamp of the duchy of Mecklenburg, as, following the custom of his time, he preferred to give the result of his researches in academical lectures." (Loesche, pp. 116-117). The work is compiled from archival records, diplomatic correspondence, and regional eyewitness testimonies, focusing on verifiable sequences of political, military, and ecclesiastical developments. Adams, C 1575. - Graesse II, 154.
He mediated between the warring Lutherans, organized a Lutheran church in Austria, and gained great influence through a catechism, Bible interpretations, and not least his historical work Chronicon Saxoniæ (The Saxon Chronicle).
See:
Loesche, G. (2020). Chytræus. In Jackson, Samuel Macauley (Ed.). New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (Vol. III: Chamier-Draendorf, pp. 116-117).
Order-nr.: 63210
DKK 5.500,00