Nuremberg Chronicle 1 Chronicle

The is an illustrated world history. Its structure follows the story of human history as related in the Bible; it includes the histories of a number of important Western cities. Written in by , with a version in German translation by Georg Alt, it appeared in 1493. It is one of the best-documented early printed books - an incunabulum (printed, not hand-written) - and one of the first to successfully integrate illustrations and text.

Latin scholars refer to it as Liber Chronicarum (Book of Chronicles) as this phrase appears in the index introduction of the Latin edition. English speakers have long referred to it as the Nuremberg Chronicle after the city in which it was published. German speakers refer to it as Die Schedelsche Weltchronik (Schedel's World Fifth day History) in honour of its author.

The illustrations in many copies were hand-coloured after printing.

Contents

The Chronicle is an illustrated world history, in which the contents are divided into seven ages: • First age: from creation to the Deluge • Second age: up to the birth of • Third age: up to King • Fourth age: up to the Babylonian captivity • Fifth age: up to the birth of Christ • Sixth age: up to the present time (the largest part) • Seventh age: outlook on the end of the world and the Last Judgement

Publication

The Chronicle was first published in Latin on 12 July 1493 in the city

of Nuremberg. This was quickly followed by a German translation on Page depicting Constantinople with added 23 December 1493. An estimated 1400 to 1500 Latin and 700 to 1000 hand-colouring German copies were published. A document from 1509 records that 539 Latin versions and 60 German versions had not been sold. Approximately 400 Latin and 300 German copies survived into the twenty-first century.[1] The larger illustrations were also sold separately as prints, often hand-coloured in watercolour. Many copies of the book are also coloured, with varying degrees of skill; there were specialist shops for this. The colouring on some examples has been added much later, and some copies have been broken up for sale as decorative prints. Nuremberg Chronicle 2

The publisher and printer was , the godfather of Albrecht Dürer, who in the year of Dürer's birth in 1471 ceased goldsmithing to become a printer and publisher. He quickly became the most successful publisher in , eventually owning 24 printing presses and having many offices in Germany and abroad, from Lyon to .[2]

Illustrations

The large workshop of , then Nuremberg's leading artist in various media, provided the unprecedented 1,809 illustrations (before duplications are eliminated; see below). Sebastian Kammermeister and Sebald Schreyer financed the printing in a contract dated March 16, 1492, although preparations had been well under way for several years. Wolgemut and his stepson Wilhelm Pleydenwurff were first commissioned to provide the illustrations in 1487-88, and a further contract of December 29, 1491, commissioned manuscript layouts of the text and illustrations. A typical opening, uncoloured Albrecht Dürer was an apprentice with Wolgemut from 1486 to 1489, so may well have participated in designing some of the illustrations for the specialist craftsmen (called "formschneider"s) who cut the blocks, onto which the design had been drawn, or a drawing glued. From 1490 to 1494 Dürer was travelling. A drawing by Wolgemut for the elaborate frontispiece, dated 1490, is in the .

The book did not have a title page, common at that time. As with other books of the period, many of the , showing towns, battles or Catching a "lion fish" - a small illustration from a kings were used more than once in the book, with the text labels Latin copy. Note the red capital done in pen and merely changed; one count of the number of original woodcuts is 645. ink, and the doodle in the margin below The book is large, with a double-page woodcut measuring about 342 x 500mm.[2] Only the city of Nuremberg is given a double page illustration with no text. The illustration for the city of Venice is adapted from a much larger woodcut of 1486 by in the first illustrated printed travel book, the Sanctae Perigrinationes of 1486. This and other sources were used where possible; where no information was available a number of stock images were used, and reused up to eleven times. The view of Florence was adapted from an engraving by Francesco Rosselli.[3]

A privately held version of Nuremberg Chronicles was recently revealed when its owner brought the leaves forward for independent appraisal in Sandy, Utah.[4] Nuremberg Chronicle 3

References

[1] "About this book - Latin and German Editions" (http:/ / www. beloit. edu/ ~nurember/ inside/ about/ editions. htm), Beloit College Morse Library [2] ,Giulia Bartrum, Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy, British Museum Press, 2002, pp. 94-96, ISBN 0-7141-2633-0 [3] A Hyatt Mayor, Prints and People, Metropolitan Museum of Art/Princeton, 1971, nos 43 & 173.ISBN 0-691-00326-2

[4] FOX 13 News Utah: "Appraisal event turns up extraordinary piece of history" (http:/ / www. fox13now. com/ news/ local/

kstu-nuremberg-chronicles-appraisal-event-turns-up-extraordinary-piece-of-history-20110409,0,2228535. story)

External links

• Beloit College's extensive account of their version of the Chronicle, with illustrations (http:/ / www. beloit. edu/

nuremberg/ inside/ about/ index. htm)

• the original woodcut world map (http:/ / lazarus. elte. hu/ ~zoltorok/ Cartartweb/ cartart_schedel. htm)

• More views from the Metropolitan Museum's uncoloured copy: Rome, Nuremberg, saints (http:/ / www.

metmuseum. org/ toah/ hd/ prnt/ ho_1981. 1178. 29. htm)

• Online images of an uncoloured copy (http:/ / www. mirroroftheworld. com. au/ inspiration/ printed/ nuremberg/

online. php) from the State Library of Victoria

• Online full Latin coloured copy (http:/ / daten. digitale-sammlungen. de/ ~db/ 0003/ bsb00034024/ images/ index.

html?id=00034024& fip=151. 59. 152. 2& no=29& seite=1) from the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

• http:/ / www. smithandpress. com offers an English translation and printed reference copy of the Latin edition as well as a full size facsimile. Article Sources and Contributors 4 Article Sources and Contributors

Nuremberg Chronicle Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=430987944 Contributors: 100110100, Adam Keller, Andrew Dalby, BanyanTree, CMBJ, CalJW, Captain Blood, Cbustapeck, Chris 73, Chronicler, Crazycomputers, DO'Neil, Dictionarium, Fryed-peach, Fæ, Gioto, Hseneff, Humblefool, Johnbod, König Alfons der Viertelvorzwölfte, Ledzeppelin21, Lloizzo, Lotje, Matthead, Mdd, Mimihitam, Mindmatrix, Paul August, Pe-Jo, Perceval, Polylerus, Raul654, Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), SaturnCat, Schaengel89, SchuminWeb, Shimgray, Staffelde, Statelibraryvictoria, Terrytip, ThomasPusch, Tomisti, Twang, Vanished User 0001, 32 anonymous edits Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

image:Nuremberg_chronicles_-_f_4v.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nuremberg_chronicles_-_f_4v.png License: Public Domain Contributors: Hartmann Schedel Image:Schedel konstantinopel.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Schedel_konstantinopel.jpg License: unknown Contributors: Chris 73, G.dallorto, JMCC1, Kairios, Liondancer, ¡0-8-15!, 2 anonymous edits Image:Schedelsche Weltchronik d 122.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Schedelsche_Weltchronik_d_122.jpg License: unknown Contributors: Joergens.mi Image:Nuremberg chronicles - Bottom of Page (CCXVIIv).jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nuremberg_chronicles_-_Bottom_of_Page_(CCXVIIv).jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Chris 73, Liondancer, Pe-Jo License

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