In Folio: Rare Volumes in the Stanford University Libraries

Hartmann Schedel, 1440-1514.

Liber Cronicarum.

[Nuremberg]: Hunc librum dominus Anthonius Koberger Nuremberge impressit ... consummatu[m] autem duodecima mensis Iulij anno salutis n[ost]r[a]e 1493 [12 July 1493].

The Liber Cronicarum, more popularly known as The Nuremberg Chronicle, is an illustrated history of the earth from the creation to the 1490s. It was compiled by Hartmann Schedel and illustrated and engraved by Michael Wohlgemuth, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, and likely Albrecht Dürer. Published by Anton Koberger, the chronicle contains 1809 prints from 645 woodcuts, many of the woodcuts being used repeatedly. (Even in the city illustrations, there is an indifference to accuracy, with the same cuts being used as images for various cities.) It describes the story of human history as related in the Bible while including digressions on natural catastrophes, histories of several western cities, and genealogies, among other things. The Chronicle stands as one of the grandest and greatest incunabula—books printed before 1501 (1500 being the end of the first century in which printing with movable type was used). Its illustrations are lovely, blending beautifully with the text, which in some cases is deliberately wrapped around an woodcut. It was the most lavishly illustrated book of its day, and it includes a large index, unusual for the time. It was translated into German by Georg Alt (ca. 1450-1510) as early as 1493, and re-printed in both Latin and German before the end of the century—a monumental task of printing, but fully justified, given the book’s popularity. This popularity prompted Johann Schönsperger to issue a "pirated" edition in 1496, with 2,165 illustrations re-cut from the original blocks that illustrated the 1493 edition.

 

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