Details
STURLASON, Snorri (1178/79-1241). Heims Kringla, in Old Norse. Swedish and Latin. Edited by Johan Peringskiöld (1654-1720). Stockholm: Wankiwianis, 1697[-1700].
2 volumes, 2° (313 x 206mm). Engraved title vignette, woodcut headpieces. (Occasional light browning, very occasional light spotting.) 18th-century sprinkled polished calf, gilt spines, later spine labels, red sprinkled edges. Provenance: Fährdus (18/19th-century inscription).
FIRST EDITION OF SNORRE'S SAGAS OF THE NORSE KINGS. Snorri Sturlason was a powerful figure in medieval Iceland: President of the Icelandic National Assembly, one of the richest men in the country, and royal retainer of the Norwegian royal court. Written c. 1230-35, Heimskringla consists of 16 discrete sagas, each devoted to a Norwegian King. In addition to its obvious importance to Iceland and Norway, it also 'provided the Swedes with a legendary history of their royal ancestors' (Whaley), and it was at the behest of the Swedish king Charles XI that the work, edited by Peringskiöld and with translations into Swedish and Latin, was first published. It has continued to find relevance in all ages; William Morris, who translated it into English with Eirikr Magnusson in 1893, saw in it an ideal of the individual and a refreshing antithesis to modern life. Heimskringla contains eight chapters on the voyage to America by Leif Ericson. Cf. Diana Whaley, Heimskringla, an introduction, London: 1991. Sabin 85484. (2)
2 volumes, 2° (313 x 206mm). Engraved title vignette, woodcut headpieces. (Occasional light browning, very occasional light spotting.) 18th-century sprinkled polished calf, gilt spines, later spine labels, red sprinkled edges. Provenance: Fährdus (18/19th-century inscription).
FIRST EDITION OF SNORRE'S SAGAS OF THE NORSE KINGS. Snorri Sturlason was a powerful figure in medieval Iceland: President of the Icelandic National Assembly, one of the richest men in the country, and royal retainer of the Norwegian royal court. Written c. 1230-35, Heimskringla consists of 16 discrete sagas, each devoted to a Norwegian King. In addition to its obvious importance to Iceland and Norway, it also 'provided the Swedes with a legendary history of their royal ancestors' (Whaley), and it was at the behest of the Swedish king Charles XI that the work, edited by Peringskiöld and with translations into Swedish and Latin, was first published. It has continued to find relevance in all ages; William Morris, who translated it into English with Eirikr Magnusson in 1893, saw in it an ideal of the individual and a refreshing antithesis to modern life. Heimskringla contains eight chapters on the voyage to America by Leif Ericson. Cf. Diana Whaley, Heimskringla, an introduction, London: 1991. Sabin 85484. (2)
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