Book excerpt: The ninth century Frankish scholar Einhard was a dedicated servant of the Emperor Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious. Einhard’s principle work is a biography of Charlemagne, the ‘Vita Karoli Magni’, regarded by many as one of the most precious literary bequests of the early Middle Ages. Historians have traditionally described it as the first example of a biography of a European king. Delphi’s Medieval Library provides eReaders with precious works of the Middle Ages, with noted English translations and the original texts. This eBook presents Einhard’s collected works, with illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Einhard's life and works * Features the collected works of Einhard, in both English translation and the original Latin * Concise introduction to the author * Excellent formatting of the texts * Easily locate the sections you want to read with individual contents tables * Rare translations digitised here for the first time * Provides a special dual English and Latin text of ‘Vita Karoli Magni’, allowing readers to compare the sections paragraph by paragraph — ideal for students * Features four bonus resource texts, including Hodgkin’s influential biography — explore the world of the Franks! * Ordering of texts into chronological order and categories CONTENTS: The Translations Life of Charlemagne (tr. A. J. Grant, 1905) The History of the Translation of the Blessed Martyrs of Christ, Marcellinus and Peter (tr. Barrett Wendell, 1926) The Letters of Einhard (tr. Henry Preble, 1909) The Original Texts List of Latin Texts The Dual Text Dual Latin and English Text: ‘Life of Charlemagne’ The Resources Legends of Charlemagne (1863) by Thomas Bulfinch From Constantine to Charlemagne (1890) by William Edward Hartpole Lecky The Life of Charlemagne (1902) by Thomas Hodgkin Charlemagne (1910) by Ferdinand Schmidt