The Raven King - Matthias Corvinus and the Fate of His Lost Library (Paperback)

A gripping account of an extraordinary Renaissance monarch and the quest for his treasured library Seizing the Hungarian throne at the age of fifteen, Matthias Corvinus, the "Raven King," was an effervescent presence on the fifteenth-century stage. A successful warrior and munificent art patron, he sought to leave as symbols of his strategic and humanist ambitions a strong, unified country, splendid palaces, and the most magnificent library in Christendom. But Hungary, invaded by Turkey after Matthias's death in 1490, yielded its treasures, and the Raven King's exquisite library of two thousand volumes, witness to a golden cultural age, was dispersed first across Europe and then the world. The quest to recover this collection of sumptuously illuminated scripts provoked and tantalized generations of princes, cardinals, collectors, and scholars and imbued Hungarians with the mythical conviction that the restoration of the lost library would seal their country's rebirth. In this thrilling and absorbing account, drawing on a wealth of original sources in several languages, Marcus Tanner tracks the destiny of the Raven King and his magnificent bequest, uncovering the remarkable story of a life and library almost lost to history.

General

Imprint:	Yale University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	September 2009
First published:	October 2009
Authors:	Marcus Tanner
Dimensions:	196 x 129 x 23mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	288
ISBN-13:	978-0-300-15828-1
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > World history > 500 to 1500 Books > Humanities > History > European history > General Books > History > European history > General Books > History > World history > 500 to 1500
LSN:	0-300-15828-9
Barcode:	9780300158281

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