Leonard Meisters Helvetische Galerie grosser Männer und Thaten für die vaterländische Jugend
Leonhard Meister's Helvetische Galerie, published in 1786 by David Bürkli in Zurich, is a German-language collection of biographical stories of notable Swiss men and their deeds, aimed at young readers of the fatherland. Its copperplate etchings show armoured soldiers resting in camp, a mounted commander reviewing kneeling men, a crowd witnessing an execution by pikemen, and a clash of troops among trees; a designer could draw on their dense hatching, rustic landscapes and crowded historical staging.
