Ottheinrich Miniatures

Ottheinrich Bible
(15th-16th century : Bavaria)

You will be doing yourself a favour if you click through to the enlarged versions.

Regarded as one of the finest of all illuminated manuscripts in existence, the Ottheinrich Bible was thought to have been commissioned in about 1425 by the Royal Court of Bavaria. The unusually large manuscript was not completed until the following century when the German painter and engraver, Mathis Gerung, was offered 60 Rhenish guilders and winter clothes to decorate the text (the employment contract survives to this day).

The Bible carries the name of the benefactor who supported its completion. Ottheinrich (1502-1559) was the Prince of Neuburg, Elector Palatine, soldier, pilgrim, reformer, art patron (and adopted patron of BibliOdyssey), and the first unambiguously documented owner of the Bible.

The enormous book in the German vernacular language (and that only covers the New Testament) was eventually divided in the 19th century and bound into eight manuscripts which had a partially separated journey over the next century and a half. It was only about two years ago that all volumes were reunited when the privately owned sections were purchased by the Bavarian State Library in Munich (noted).

"Dr Christopher de Hamel, Consultant to the Western Manuscripts department at Sotheby’s [pdf], comments: “In the census of the hundred greatest illuminated manuscripts, European or Oriental, the present example is the only one ever likely to appear on the market. Conceived as the first illuminated bible and on an Imperial scale, it is one of the most profusely illustrated medieval bibles in existence. It is probably the last remaining manuscript in private hands from the incomparable Palatine Library, one of the greatest art collections ever formed. The manuscript has not changed hands except by descent since 1632, and in addition, it is one of the best documented manuscripts in the world, which gives it an academic importance beyond equal."

[In relation to the five volumes sold at auction [pdf] in 2007]:
"written by a single scribe in dark brown ink in a very fine large gothic liturgical hand, opening words of books in larger script, headings in red, capitals touched in red, small capitals and paragraph-marks in red, TWO HUNDRED LARGE ILLUMINATED INITIALS, mostly 5 lines high in a variety of renaissance designs on coloured panels with delicate tracery in liquid gold, EIGHTY-SIX LARGE MINIATURES up to full-page in size, eighty-three of them the width of two columns and mostly about quarter- to half-page in size, three of the miniatures column-width, all finely executed in full colours and liquid gold, a few original flaws in the vellum, some occasional rubbing and abrasion of miniatures.."

All the images above -- in random order -- are cropped from the full manuscript page and some more images (including full page examples) are available in the flickr set. The set of miniatures available from wikimedia appears to be either older scans or come from the 2002 facsimile publication.

• The magnificent Ottheinrich Bible (Cgm 8010) is available in eight sections (flash or html) at the website of the Bavarian State Library of Munich. [English landing page]
• Faksimile Verlag 2002 reproduction site.
• Previously: illuminated / religion.
  

Indian Textile Designs

The traditional Indian textile patterns seen above were taken from a book-cd I had out on loan from the library some time ago. Unfortunately, I don't recall the title, but these aren't exactly secret or unique designs.

If you've ever been to India, some of these simple patterns might be familiar. They constitute a small sampling from a dynamic parade of unrelenting culture: the literal and metaphorical fabric of an astonishing Indian society. There are more examples in the set.

Previously: http://www.delicious.com/BibliOdyssey/india

The Cephalopoda

In 1898, the steamship Valdivia left Hamburg for a nine month scientific voyage to the Atlantic, Indian and Great Southern oceans [map]. Known as the German Deep-Sea Expedition, the mission was led by Leipzig University Professor of Zoology, Carl Chun and investigated chemical, zoological and physical characteristics encountered in the oceans during the voyage.

The Valdivia was equipped with state of the art biological and chemical laboratories, a first-class scientific library and ample storage space for marine specimens collected while at sea. With these specialist ship fittings and overall expedition objectives as well as vessel size, the Valdivia resembled the famous HMS Challenger from the 1870s, which had essentially established oceanography as a scientific discipline.

And like the Challenger expedition, the German Deep-Sea Expedition gave rise to an extensive series of post-voyage scientific publications. Professor Chun contributed a book on cephalopods (with a corresponding illustration/photograph atlas) to a multi-volume work called 'Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der deutschen Tiefse eexpedition auf dem Dampfer Valdivia' (From the Depths of the World Sea: Descriptions of the German Deep Sea Expedition).

In 1975, the Israel Program for Scientific Translations (in association with the Smithsonian Institution) arranged for the publication of the Professor Chun cephalopoda volumes in English for the first time.

Polypus levis Hoyle (male) - Port Gazelle, Keguelen

Thaumatolampas diadema (head, funnel, mantle, eye dissected views)

Abraliopsis morisii (mature female)

Calliteuthis hoylei + reversa and Histoteuthis juveniles

Histioteuthis ruppellii (large male from Nice)

Benthoteuthis megalops Verrill (Bathyteuthis abyssicola Hoyle)

Mastigoteuthis glaukopis (1+2) and flammea (3+4)

Thaumatolampas diadema (from Benguela current, South Africa)

Bolitaena diaphana STEENSTR. (Gulf of Guinea)

Chiroteuthis (Chirotauma imperator) (S. channel of Nias)

Velodona togata (off Somalia)

Eledonella pygmaea VERR. (male, female and hectocotylus of younger male)

Opisthoteuthis medusoides + extensa

Chiroteuthis spp.
(tentacle club, glandular knob, olfactory tubercule, eye, mantle complex)

"The Cephalopoda is an ancient and very successful group of the [phylum] Mollusca. Cephalopods have been among the dominant large predators in the ocean at various times in geological history. Two groups of cephalopods exist today: The Nautiloidea with a few species of the pearly nautilus, and the Coleoidea, containing the squids, cuttlefishes, octopods and vampire squids, which is represented by about 700 species.

Cephalopods are the most active of the molluscs and some squids rival fishes in their swimming speed. Although there are relatively few species of living cephalopods, they occupy a great variety of habitats in all of the world's oceans. Individual species are often very abundant and provide major targets for marine fisheries. [..]

Characteristics:
-A funnel derived from the molluscan foot [..]
-Circumoral arms that are derived from the molluscan head [..]
-Chitinous beaks
-shell
-image-forming eyes"

The images for this post were sourced from: 'The Cephalopoda Part I: Oegopsida Part II: Myopsida, Octopoda Atlas' by Carl Chun, 1910 {1975 reprint}, online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library (there's a small drop-down menu to toggle between atlas and text).

Alternative versions are available from the Internet Archive.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration web exhibit site offers a sampling of page views from the German Deep-Sea Expedition publications, as well as huge downloadable pdf versions of the series.
• Cephalopoda at the Tree of Life web project and wikipedia.
• The Octopus News Magazine Online.
• Professor Carl Chun biography IN: 'Exploring Polar Frontiers: a Historical Encyclopedia' by William James Mills, 2003.
• ALSO SEE :- Neapolitan Cephalopods :: Mollusca :: Icones Zootomicae.