Description
Facsimile limited edition of the Saxon World Chronicle by Faksimile Verlag (2002) featuring:
- Edition details: Buch der Welt – Die sächsische Weltchronik /Buch der Welt – Die sächsische Weltchronik Lucerne: Faksimile Verlag, 2002
- Commentary: German by Herkommer Hubert, Kroos Renate, Große Rudolf and Schneider, Karin
- Binding: leather with clasps
- Case: acrylic
About the original manuscript: Forschungs- und Landesbibliothek, Ms. Memb. I 90
This sumptuous codex presents the world’s history from the beginning of the world, which the annalist dates as of March 18th, and the creation of Adam and Eve, recalling historical events from the Old and the New Testaments, the turbulence of Antiquity and the storms of the tribal migrations, up to Frederick II, the last descendant of the Staufer dynasty.
The story begins with the fratricide committed by Cain, paralleled in early Roman history when Romulus killed his brother Remus. Although the advent of Christ in the world announces an era of love and salvation, the Book of the World paints a quite mournful picture of human history, an endless story steeped in an ocean of blood and tears. The nadir is reached with the investiture struggle between the Pope and the Emperor which plunges the whole world into an abyss.
The Gotha codex is the oldest and most lavish copy of the Saxon World Chronicle. The manuscript was kept in Wittenberg up to the 17th century before being transferred to Gotha. Its turbulent history is just as interesting and mysterious as its destiny in the 20th century. The codex found its way to St. Petersburg as war booty of the Soviet Army, and returned to its present place only after quite some time.
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