The Romance of Alexander the Great

Attributed to an unknown author called Pseudo-Callisthenes, 'The Romance of Alexander' was originally produced in Greek in about 200-300 AD from a variety of written accounts and stories from the oral tradition. It purports to record the history of Alexander the Great (d. 323 BC) but is really a fantastical amalgam of legend and fact that catapulted the already remarkable accomplishments of Alexander's thirty two years on the planet to mythological status.

The original Greek manuscript (of which there were actually three variants) is now lost, but it was translated early on into the Syriac, Armenian and Pahlavi languages, -- which introduced its own variations -- contributing stories to the Koran, inspiring Persian poets and giving rise to its retranslation and dissemination throughout the Middle East. An early Latin version was the basis for translation into the vernacular languages of Europe where it became established as a popular Medieval tradition.

There have probably been more books written about Alexander the Great than any other figure from history, in a continuous line from Antiquity through to the modern day. 'The Romance of Alexander' is itself not really a single work but a great evolving and heterogeneous collection of texts and manuscripts, often shaped by regional scribes and translators to fit the pervading culture. Impossible deeds were often attributed to Alexander - his encounter with a tribe of headless men, for instance - and the embellishments served to intensify the popularity of the genre that saw Alexander tropes appear in Byzantine artworks, sculptures and tapestries and in the written record he surfaces in such diverse locations as a prophet converted to Christianity in Hebrew literature, as the hero Sikandar sent to punish impure people in Persian stories and in the West he is cast as a Frank, a Goth, a Saxon and a Russian.

"The adventures which the Alexander of the 'Romance' adds to the achievements of his historical original, the world conqueror, include an ascent into the air in a basket borne by eagles, a descent into the ocean in a diving bell, a meeting with the Amazons, an interview with the Brahmans or naked philosophers, and the search for the Water of Life, which ended in the transformation of Alexander's daughter into a mermaid. The 'Romance' reflects Alexander's metamorphosis in legend from a consummate general to a sage and beloved of God."

The gorgeous full and half page illuminated manuscript miniatures seen above - definitely click through to large and very large versions for the full impact - were produced by the workshop of the Flemish illuminator, Jehan de Grise, between 1338 and 1344.

This enormous French manuscript - (MS Bodley 264 - Bodleian Library, Oxford University: very LARGE thumbnail page) - shows, of course, the many alleged episodes during Alexander's journeys, but the whimsical marginal figures and stylised details of Medieval life mark the work out as a particularly superb example from the 'Romance' literature. For unknown reasons, the manuscript also includes a copy of the 'Travels of Marco Polo'.

I'm not sure that the best background reading material is available online, however:

• Wikipedia: Alexander Romance and Alexander the Great.
• 'How Great was Alexander?' by Prof. Ian Worthington.
• 'Empire of Alexander the Great' © Pamela Dell & Barbara Skelton, 2005.
• 'Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend' by Richard Stoneman, 2007. [review]
• The Medieval Alexander Project: Alexander the Great in Medieval Literature and Culture by EM Huber. {The Medieval British Tradition}
• 'Iconography of the Armenian Alexander'.
• The Romance of Alexander Flickr pool.
• Found noodling around in the Catalogue of Digitized Medieval Manuscripts at UCLA. [Thanks Tony!].

The September Testament

"Luther’s first translation of the entire New Testament ['Das Newe Testament Deutzsch'] from the Greek original was published by Melchior Lotter the Younger in September 1522, with woodcut illustrations by Lucas Cranach. The so-called September Testament was received so enthusiastically that a second edition with corrections by Luther was printed as early as December of the same year.

Not only is the September Testament regarded as a milestone in the history of German Bible translation, but also it had an unequalled hand in the promotion of the Reformation, as well as in the dissemination of the High German language. Numerous reprints bear witness to its success: 12 editions were published in Basel, Augsburg, Grimma and Leipzig during the year 1523 alone."

The quote above comes from the Dr. Jörn Günther • Antiquariat site. That summary is relevant here but I'm fairly confident that their edition is a much more valuable, gold-highlighted work by a superior artist. However, the woodcut designs are indentical in both versions and were produced by the artist, Georg Lemberger {his initials are seen in that final image above}.

"For the Apocalypse, Lemberger took Cranach’s compositions as models, complementing them with new illustrations. With a total of 44 full-page images [printed from 34 blocks] plus 27 larger initials and the border decoration of the title page, this edition is lavishly illustrated. The Gospels are introduced with portraits of their authors, the Epistles with images of the apostles, and thus each book of the New Testament begins with a woodcut.

The artist renders the evangelists as hermits placing them in a wilderness setting, while he shows the apostles in the act of handing over their letters to messengers who depart into wooded, mountainous landscapes. The halos of the apostles are rendered as spectacular, luminous apparitions.The figures are depicted in close-up before landscapes featuring low horizons and woody or rocky mountains. A typical element is the large conifers stretching out their long branches."

• The book is owned and hosted by Mälardalen University in Sweden [trans.]. BE WARNED: the only way to view this book is to load the whole thing, all 66Mb in Shockwave format, which will probably require a plugin/upgrade and maybe a restart as well. {Link: "Das newe testament deutzsch - Luther, Martin"}
• All of the images above were spliced together from screencaps. Obviously the selection is skewed in favour of the more twisted/sensational/monstrous, as is my want. The balance of the illustrations has been saved in this set. Of particular note: the title page; full double-page appearance: with illustration & without illustration; a duet of St Paul depictions (I erroneously thought this was evidence suggesting that the illustrations were painted miniatures rather than hand-painted woodcuts; I was to lose a bet to Laura over this, who happily supplied the Antiquariat site link to reveal my foolishness.)
• Thanks to Klaus from Archivalia for posting a multi-headed monster image: I 'pretend' I can read German (and Spanish and Dutch and ...) but the truth is, without the occasional visual alert, I'm much more likely to miss the quality material, such as the striking illustrations found in the September Testament.
• Wikipedia: Luther Bible; Martin Luther.
• New Advent: Martin Luther.
• UPDATE - just a few days after posting this entry Taschen books announced a new publication of a Luther bible ['The Bible in Pictures'] based on an edition from the Lucas Cranach workshop (1534) - the illustrations are different than those seen above. [click 'Leaf through!' to see zoomable pages and commentary] {Amazon}

Les Fleurs Animées

"Your Majesty, the flowers here present beg you to accept their homage, and to lend a favorable ear to their humble complaint.

For thousands of years we have supplied mankind with their themes of comparison; we alone have given them all their metaphors; indeed, without us poetry could not exist. Men lend to us their virtues and their vices; their good and their bad qualities; and it is time that we should have some experience of what these are.

We are tired of this flower-life. We wish for permission to assume the human form, and to judge, for ourselves, whether that which they say above, of our character, is agreeable to truth."¹

"We pride ourselves on being the first to advance the following aphorism : Flowers are the expression of society."¹

Title pages from JJ Grandville's 'Les Fleurs Animées', 1847 {Volumes 1 & 2}

'Bal' (The Ball)

'Reine Marguerite, Campanule, Fuchsia, Pied d'Alouette, Muguet, Pyramidale, Liseron'

{China Aster, Canterbury Bell (Campanula), Lady's Ear Drop, Larkspur (Delphinum), Lily of the Valley, Pyramidale Bell Flower, Morning Glory}

'Soleil' (Sunflower)

'Aubépine' (Hawthorn)

'Bleuet et Coquelicot' (Cornflower and Poppy)

'Bleuet et Coquelicot' [detail]

Chardon (Thistle)

Capucine (Nasturtium)

Ciguë (Hemlock)

Ciguë [detail]

Rose

'Flèche d'Eau' (Arrowhead)

'Narcisse' (Daffodil)

'Narcisse' [detail]

'Nenuphar' (Water Lily)

'Nenuphar' [detail]

'Retour des Fleurs' (The Flowers Return)

'Retour des Fleurs' [detail]

'Sensitive' (Mimosa)

'Sensitive' [detail]

'Thé et Café' (Tea and Coffee)

'Vigne' (Grape Vine)

'Vigne' [detail]

(All these images have been background-cleaned² and about half have had the colour saturation increased. The illustrations are all cropped from the full pages. Click through to large images; very large versions are also available³)


The delightful caprice of JJ Grandville's imaginative - and posthumously published - series of flower illustrations ensured that 'Les Fleurs Animées' was popularly received in 1847 and reissued and translated many times.

The thing is though, these anthropomorphic figures of apparent whimsical innocence are in fact serving as the visual arm of a satirical work that mocks the sentimentality and effusiveness with which flowers had been portrayed during the romantic era. The text by Taxile Delord is a parody of the style it targets and was intended to sound the death knell for Romanticism*. It also appears to kick out at an over-scientific attitude towards plants during the Enlightenment; at least in the introduction.

• I was moved to snag these examples (from both volumes³) from Missouri Botanical Gardens' Botanicus website - where they were recently posted - because years ago, when I first discovered this wonderful series, I wasn't aware the complete books were available online.
• See: Beverly Seaton's 1995 book, 'The Language of Flowers: A History' [excerpts]
• JJ Grandville works at the Internet Archive.
• The full translated text of 'Les Fleurs Animées'¹. Or here.

¹'Les Fleurs Animées' was translated into English by Nehemiah Cleaveland [as 'The Flowers Personified'] immediately after its original publication. The quotes at the top are most likely OCR machine transcriptions and were slightly edited by me.
²The length of time spent assiduously cleaning these images is a private matter that may or may not be discussed in the future with an OCD therapist, should I ever choose to get one.
³In actual fact, the very large jpeg images - of the title pages and, as I recall, each illustration from volume 2 - for this post were obtained partly from Missouri Botanical Gardens old website ('Volumes'/'Structure' links at the top and then: 'View in Detail'): these very large images are missing for some illustrations at the Botanicus site.