Schedel | Liber chronicarum, Nuremberg, July 1493, old half calf

SCHEDEL, HARTMANN

Liber chronicarum. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, for Sebald Schreyer and Sebastian Kammermeister, 12 July 1493

Imperial folio (444 x 307mm.), 326 leaves [*, **⁶ ***⁸; 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-K⁶ L^6-2 M⁶], double column, gothic type, xylographic title-page, 4- to 14-line initial spaces, numerous woodcut illustrations throughout by Wolgemuth, Pleydenwurff and workshop, including portraits, MAPS AND TOWN VIEWS, 5 leaves of De Sarmacia and conjoint blank bound between folios CCLXVI and CCLXVII, old half tooled calf over modern wooden boards with old metal edging to calf, two clasps, title-page somewhat soiled and laid down (slightly defective at edges), second leaf with a few repaired tears, other occasional repaired tears (without loss of text), fol. 77 with a crude repair, folios 12-13 (world map) and a few other leaves on guards and supplied from another copy, occasional light staining or browning, double-page map of Europe with repaired tears, edges mostly friable, spine delaminating

Schedel's chronicle, a history of the world from the Creation to his own time, is remarkable for its illustrations, graphic design, and depictions (some real, some standardised) of cities. IT INCLUDES THE FAMOUS EARLY MAP OF EUROPE (by Hieronymus Münzer after Nicolas Cusa) AND A PTOLEMAIC WORLD MAP (Shirley 19). The many woodcut illustrations include events from the Bible, pictures of human monstrosities, portraits of kings, queens, saints and martyrs, and allegorical pictures of miracles.

LITERATURE:

Goff S307; HC 14508; BMC ii 437; BSB-Ink S-195; Bod-inc S-108; GW M40784

PROVENANCE:

late sixteenth-century inscription on title-page recording the gift of this book in the will of Petrus Oranus to Renerus Gilteau of St Maternus (a chapel in the church of St Lambert) of Liège; baron [Louis Joseph Nicolas] de Waha and de Wierde, later inscriptions on fos 20 and 100; Alfred Leeser, notes at foot of title-page dated 1968-1969