Schedel, Das Buch der Croniken, Nuremberg, 1493, contemporary Nuremberg binding with bosses and clasps

Property from the Loverdos Collection

Hartmann Schedel

Liber chronicarum [German] Das Buch der Croniken und Geschichten [translated by Georg Alt]. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, for Sebald Schreyer and Sebastian Kammermeister, 23 December 1493

Imperial folio (465 x 315mm.), 294 leaves (of 297), [*¹⁰ a⁶ b–d⁴ e–h⁶ i² k⁴ l–n⁶ o² p q⁶ r–y⁴ z⁶ aa–cc⁶ dd² ee⁶ ff⁴ gg–ii⁶ kk² ll⁴ mm–zz A–C⁶ D E⁴ F–H⁶ I⁶⁺¹], partly double column, gothic letter, xylographic title-page, 2-line woodcut initials, numerous woodcut illustrations throughout (some full-page or double-page) by Wolgemuth and Pleydenwurff, including portraits and town views, double-page map of the world on [b]2v-3r, double-page woodcut map of Europe at end, initial on fol.1 in blue on a gold ground within a red and green frame and leafy marginal extensions (slightly rubbed), CONTEMPORARY NUREMBERG BINDING of blind-stamped calf over wooden boards (Kyriss 112, Adler), title stamped at head of upper cover, metal cornerpieces and centrepiece on lower cover, two clasps with catchplates lettered MARIA, lacking text leaves CCXLVIII (containing small woodcut portraits) CCLXXI-CCLXXII (containing woodcuts of Wallachia, Thrace and "von dem Türcken"), occasional staining or marginal tearing throughout, title-page slightly stained and repaired, wormholes in first and last few leaves (including the map of Europe), fol.IX torn and repaired with thread, slight loss of text on fos CLIX-CLX, fol. CCXLII torn and repaired with slight loss, rebacked with blind tooling in period style, binding wormed and rubbed, lacking three cornerpieces

A TALL AND UNSOPHISTICATED COPY IN A CONTEMPORARY NUREMBERG BINDING. The binding workshop (Kyriss 112, Adler) was active in Nuremberg from around 1477 to 1514 and bound other copies of the Nuremberg Chronicle. This German version of the text is less common than the original Latin which was printed slightly earlier, in July 1493.

LITERATURE

ISTC is00309000

PROVENANCE

Presentation inscription from Hans von Elmsb[--] to Jakob Hannibal, graf von Hohenems, dated 6 February 1574, on verso of title-page; "Bibl. Embs", i.e. Bibliotheca Emsiana (in Hohenems, Austria), inscription on title-page