Pleydenwurff, Wilhelm ; Dürer, Albrecht ; Wohlgemuth,... Lot n° 1288

SCHEDEL, Hartmann Liber chronicarum. Nuremberg A. Koberger for S. Schreyer & S. Kammermeister 12 July 1493 Imperial folio: [20, incl. title]-CCXCI-[6] ff., ca. 65 ll. (our copy is most probably a composite copy: 10 ff. from at least one other black and white copy, the 3 last bl. ff. are missing as in numerous copies, soiling and spotting, stronger on title, some ff. dampstained, a few sm. tears in bl. margins, some ff. skilfully repaired, ff. IX and X inverted, occ. contemp. ms. annot.). 17th-c. overl. vellum, covers with gilt central ornament and ruled border, gilt orn. flat spine, red edges (recased, renewed endpapers, soiled). First edition of the most extensively illustrated book of the 15th c. The 2 editions (Latin and German) were planned simultaneously, each with its own specially designed, new type, and both with the same woodcuts; the Latin ed. preceded the German by about 5 months. The text is a universal history of the Christian world from the beginning of time to the early 1490s, written in Latin by the Nuremberg physician and humanist Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), with on f. 252v the famous reference to the invention of printing in 1440 in Mainz. The Chronicle also incorporates geographical and historical information on European countries and towns. The narrative is divided into the 7 Ages of the World. The print run is estimated at 1800 copies. - Illustration: impressive xylographic title; 1809 woodcuts from 645 blocks by Michael Wohlgemuth, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff and their workshop, including Albrecht Dürer. The woodcuts show religious subjects from the Old and New Testament, classical and medieval history, and 27 city views, some in double-page, incl. Augsburg, Basel, Byzantium, Cologne, Florence, Jerusalem, Nuremberg, Prague, Rome, Venice and Vienna. Included are 2 double-page maps: a world map, folio XIII based on Mela's "Cosmographia" (1482), and a map of northern and central Europe by Hieronymus Münzer (1437-1508) after Nicolas Khyrpffs. The world