Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Chronicles of Saxony

man standing on fish on plinth


knight on pedestal in incunabulum


3 figures on pedestals





man in cart pulled by horses


seated man blowing horn


saxony battle scene


Karolus de Grote in Cronecken der Sassen


castle scene - saxony chronicles



lion and town scene


chariot of Venus


Magegurg Caslte in Chronicles of Saxony


woodcut calligraphic letter


Woodcut Typography (detail)


Cronecken der Sassen coat of arms


In 1492, a year before Hartman Schedel's famous 'Nuremburg Chronicle', the first and perhaps rarest of the great 'world' histories was published in Mainz.

Written in middle German by the goldsmith Conrad Bote (Konrad Botho), with copious woodcut illustrations by unknown artists (referred to as Masters H and HR), 'Cronecken der Sassen' (The Chronicles of Saxony) was the last work by the printer, Peter Schöffer, who had originally learned his craft under Johannes Gutenberg.

'World' means that the book commences with the creation of the world - there is an illustration of Noah's Ark in there - but settles down to be a regionally focused history, with pictures of all the major cities and armorial bearings and portraits of ruling families strewn throughout the work. In the manner of the time, many of the woodblock images (and bold calligraphic letters) appear repeatedly, functioning in a symbolic or representative manner.

I've certainly seen some of the images before, no doubt copied in later works, but I'm not sure if I've seen any similar figures in earlier handwritten manuscripts. There is very little online (in any language really) that provides more than just a cursory overview of the work.

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