Commentaries on the History of Moscow (Moscoviter wunderbare Historien [...] Erstlich durch [...] Sigmunden Freyherren zu Herberstein zu latein beschriben [...])

Sigmund Von Herberstein (1486–1566), a writer, traveller and envoy of the Holy Roman Emperor, collected all available information about Muscovy and described it in his work ‘Commentaries on the History of Moscow’. The book was first published in Vienna in 1549, and seven editions came out in the 16th century, in Latin, German and Italian. Sent by the Emperor Maximilian, Herberstein went to Vilnius on a special mission to persuade the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund the Old to take the hand of Bona Sforza in marriage. His book was an important source of information on Lithuania and the Lithuanians for 16th-century Europeans: in one chapter, the author describes the country’s geographical position, its nature, the lifestyle of the peasants and their relations with the nobles, and the remains of the early Lithuanian religion.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album ARS LIBRI (2022). Compiler Algimantas Muzikevičius, text authors Algimantas Muzikevičius, Rolandas Gustaitis

Sigmund Von Herberstein (1486–1566), a writer, traveller and envoy of the Holy Roman Emperor, collected all available information about Muscovy and described it in his work ‘Commentaries on the History of Moscow’. The book was first published in Vienna in 1549, and seven editions came out in the 16th century, in Latin, German and Italian. Sent by the Emperor Maximilian, Herberstein went to Vilnius on a special mission to persuade the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund the Old to take the hand of Bona Sforza in marriage. His book was an important source of information on Lithuania and the Lithuanians for 16th-century Europeans: in one chapter, the author describes the country’s geographical position, its nature, the lifestyle of the peasants and their relations with the nobles, and the remains of the early Lithuanian religion.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album ARS LIBRI (2022). Compiler Algimantas Muzikevičius, text authors Algimantas Muzikevičius, Rolandas Gustaitis