Emperor Maximilian I continues to fascinate historians. Traditional scholarship on Maximilian's reign has assessed his effectiveness as a political actor on the European stage and as an agent of political change. More than a century ago, Heinrich Ullman considered Maximilian's struggles with the German princes and his efforts to advance the Habsburg dynasty as retrogressive and impediments to the formation of a German state. More recently, Hermann Wiesflecker celebrated Maximilian's Realpolitik, his literary and artistic patronage, and his efforts to establish constitutional reform and the multinational Austro-Hungarian Empire. Regardless of the historiographic lens, Maximilian is recognized as wildly ambitious and as having established the Habsburg dynasty as a leading European power. Scholarship on Maximilian emphasizes his exploitation of print to disseminate his message across the broadest possible publics. Larry Silver's Marketing Maximilian offers a detailed study of Maximilian's systematic use of printed texts and images—the iconography of power—to legitimate his right to the imperial title and to provide the foundations for his own dynasty.

Maximilian's reign was plagued by domestic and international conflicts. German princes led by Berthold of Henneberg stirred in the mid 1490s, and in 1499 the Swiss successfully rebelled. France and Italian cities were frequently enemies: In 1508, Venice thwarted his efforts to travel to Rome for his formal coronation. And throughout his reign, Maximilian hoped to lead a crusade against the Ottoman threat. These contexts provided the immediate motivation for Maximilian's “campaign of self-aggrandizement through public relations” (ix). Maximilian used all forms of media at his disposal to project his image and to assert his right to rule. At the center of Silver's book stand Maximilian's major literary and visual enterprises: his autobiographical Weisskunig and Theuerdank, the Ehrenpforte, Triumphzug, his tournament and prayer books, and his genealogies. Silver also argues for the importance of Maximlian's tomb in the Hofkirche and the facades of the Goldenes Dachl and the Wappenturm, all in Innsbruck.

Silver traces in remarkable detail Maximilian's efforts to realize his program. He employed teams of humanists and artists. The emperor dictated his early autobiography to his secretaries Marx Treitzsaurwein and Joseph Grünpeck. He relied on the expertise of court historian Johannes Stabius to supervise and contribute to many of his projects. Whereas Stabius often traveled with the emperor, others remained in particular centers of production: in Augsburg, Konrad Peutinger and Hans Burgkmaier; in Nuremberg, Willibald Pirkheimer and Albrecht Dürer; and in Regensburg, Joseph Grünpeck and Albrecht Altdorfer. Jörg Kölderer was responsible for many of the projects in Innsbruck. Additional artists and craftspeople were often contracted to help carry out the emperor's ambitious plans. Maximilian, however, never relinquished control of his projects. Silver's opening chapter demonstrates Maximilian's involvement in every aspect of the design, production, and dissemination of his imperial propaganda. Maximilian corrected texts, rejected images, approved designs, and castigated Albrecht Dürer for deviating from the emperor's ideas. Silver illuminates the relationships between the emperor, his scholars, and the artists and craftspeople who worked on his propaganda.

Five complementary themes span Maximilian's various projects. He expended considerable energy reconstructing his genealogy in order to establish his qualifications for the imperial title and to provide a foundation for the House of Habsburg. Reinforcing his genealogical goals were Maximilian's efforts to show that he was the rightful heir to the Roman Empire through both the translatio imperii conferred on Charlemagne and his place in the sequence of Roman emperors. Maximilian's role as defender of the true faith and personal piety elevated him above his peers, further solidifying his claim to the imperial title. Success in arms and command on the battlefield were also key qualifications for imperial leadership. Finally, Maximilian's participation in noble activities—jousting, hunting, ceremonies, and diplomacy—were presented as further evidence of his right to rule.

Silver concludes by assessing Maximilian's legacy for the House of Habsburg. His grandsons, Charles V and Ferdinand I, both expanded the myths Maximilian had struggled to establish. Silver also shows how Maximilian's German peers appropriated his innovations in propaganda and image making. Silver's book makes important contributions to our understanding of Maximilian as a political actor. Although not principally concerned with the Ullman-Wiesflecker debate about whether or not Maximilian impeded the development of a unified Germany, Silver does provide the finest study to date on Maximilian's efforts to reformulate political practice. Marketing Maximilian provides more than simply a study of Maximilian; it offers insights into the changing political culture in early modern Europe.