BEC-CRISPIN, Jean du. (With) [GUEVARA, Antonio de]

Sammelband of two extremely rare German translations: the first German translation of a French history of Tamerlaine, descendant of Genghis Kahn also known as Timur, by Jean du Bec (c. 1540-1610), Bishop of Saint-Malo, which he supposedly translated from ancient Arabic sources, first published 1595; and an even rarer edition in German of Antonio de Guevara's (1481-1545) Spanish 'mirror of princes', Relox de Príncipes, first published in Castilian in 1529 and in German in 1599, our ed. translated from the Italian by Mambrino Roseo da Fabriano, and unrecorded in the US.

It is likely that du Bec’s history of Tamerlaine was a largely suppositious account, without reference to the Arabic sources that he claimed, and drawing principally on medieval and more recent western sources. The narrative begins with Tamerlaine’s origins and his character, and describes his war with the Moscovites, his marriage, his war with China, against Bazajet, the Turkish Emperor, and the Sultan of Egypt, his conquest of Persia and return to Samarkand, ending with the relief of Cairo and his defeat of the Sultan, his institution of legal reforms, and death.

Guevara's extremely popular work is addressed to the Roman philosopher-prince Marcus Aurelius, though he was court historian to Emperor Charles V. Guevara's mirror is a series of admonitions to the prince, including general instructions on the morality of his behaviour, but also including practical advice on his married state and the raising of his children. This includes the pregnancy of the princess, Guevara advising that pregnant women should not over-exert themselves and that the princess should nurse her own children, or, failing this, what qualities the wet-nurse should possess. Regarding the latter, the children’s education should be taken into account, since the wet-nurse will help in the development of language, and Guevara supports this theory with a discussion of learned women in ancient times. At the end is a contents table, index, and extensive errata list.