Sexta etas Mudi

Title

Sexta etas Mudi

Description

Representation of differnent saints/ on reverse the same, Latin text

ca. 1495

Artist

Schedel (1440-1515)

Hartmann Schedel (1440 -1515) settled in Nuremberg 1484. He published the famous Nuremberg Chronicle 1493, Schedel's library has been sold in 1552 to Hans Jacob Fugger. Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle must have been one of the most popular of incunables, judging by the number of surviving copies. Some 800 copies of the Latin edition have been traced and 400 of the German. This is not surprising considering that this compilation of sacred and profaned history was the most elaborate printed book of its time, illustrated with more than 1800 woodcuts. Among these were a number of double-page city views, a folding map of the world and another of northern and central Europe. The text is an amalgam of legend, fancy and tradition interspersed with the occasional scientific fact or authentic piece of modern learning. Hartmann Schedel, a physician of Nuremberg, was the editor-in-chief; the printer was Anton Koberger, and among the designers the most famous were Michael Wolgemut and Hanns Pleydenwurff, masters of the Nuremberg workshop where Albrecht Durer served his apprenticeship. The first edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle in July 1493 was in Latin and there was a reprint with German text in December of the same year. World Map: His Ptolemaic world map with the figures simbolizing the three sons of Noah's: Sem, Ham and Jafet. The world map was included in the Chronicle of the Nuremberg physician, Hartmann Schedel to demonstrate the world after the Deluge. The hundreds of the woodcuts used for printing the illustrations of the famous German work were cut by Wolgemut and Pleydenwurff. The young Albrecht Dürer could contributed to the book as he apprenticed the Nuremberg printers. The panel to the left side, showing the monstrous races, is an illustration of the tales, fables and antique works, first of all Pliny the elder. Note that this panel is the best identification mark of our edition, there was another panel with the map of the 1493 edition.

Historical Description

The works printed with movable type in the early days of letterpress printing between the completion of the Gutenberg Bible in 1454 are known as incunabula or cradle prints. Letterpress printing had been known in Germany since 1400, the hand-operated printing press for printing playing cards and broadsheets, for example, already existed in the mid-15th century. Images predominated on block book pages; negative cutting of the letters was difficult and the text was usually inserted by hand. The wooden printing block only allowed for a comparatively small print run. In terms of format, typography and illustration, cradle prints were initially characterized by the appearance of medieval manuscripts, which changed to modern book printing with technical and economic developments from the beginning of the 16th century. They were produced by named printers who distributed their products themselves (later also through booksellers). Incunabula are evidence of the beginning of the technically supported distribution of written material in Europe and a valuable cultural asset. Peter Schöffer, who had assisted Gutenberg in printing, recognized the possibilities of commercially exploiting the new technology of letter production. In Johannes Fust, a wealthy citizen of Mainz, he found a fellow campaigner who was prepared to invest money in letterpress printing. Following the example of Mainz, the new technology spread throughout Europe within around 30 years, with printing workshops called “Offizinen” springing up everywhere with their own trademarks.