Hartmann Schedel - Les chroniques de Nuremberg - 1493

Hartmann Schedel – Nuremberg Chronicle, folio LIX – The Seven Sages – Incunable – 1493

Incunable leaf, original printed on both sides, from the Latin edition of the famous Liber Chronicarum, better known as the Nuremberg Chronicle, composed by the physician and humanist Hartmann Schedel.

Nuremberg, Anton Koberger, July 12, 1493.

The leaf bears the foliation LIX and belongs to the section “Quarta etas mundi,” i.e. the Fourth Age of the World. It is devoted to the famous Seven Sages of ancient Greece.

On the recto are depicted:

– Thales of Miletus
– Solon of Athens
– Chilon of Sparta

On the verso are depicted:

– Pittacus of Mytilene
– Bias of Priene
– Cleobulus of Lindos
– Periander of Corinth

The seven figures are represented by seven wood engravings, accompanied by their biographical notices in Latin, printed in Gothic type. These portraits are typological representations characteristic of late 15th-century incunable illustration.

The illustrations of the Nuremberg Chronicle come from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. Albrecht Dürer was an apprentice at Wolgemut during the preparatory period of the work, but none of these engravings can be attributed to him with certainty.

The Nuremberg Chronicle is one of the most famous illustrated works of the incunable period and one of the earliest books to closely associate movable types and woodcut illustrations.

Characteristics:

– Author: Hartmann Schedel (1440–1514)
– Title: Liber Chronicarum / Nuremberg Chronicle
– Printer: Anton Koberger
– Place and date: Nuremberg, July 12, 1493
– Edition: First Latin edition
– Folio: LIX
– Section: Quarta etas mundi
– Language: Latin
– Printing in Gothic type
– Seven xylographic illustrations
– A single leaf printed recto-verso
– Uncoloured
– Dimensions: approximately 42 × 29.5 cm
– References: GW M40784; ISTC is00307000; Hain-Copinger 14508

Overall condition satisfactory for a leaf aged more than five centuries. Black print still particularly sharp and contrasted; text and seven illustrations complete and perfectly legible.

Natural patina and yellowing of the paper, some stains and small marginal irregularities. Old watermark/halo of moisture clearly visible in the lower margin, without significant impact on the text or illustrations. Small defect along the upper inner edge and slight waviness of the paper. Leaf probably slightly trimmed long ago.

The overall view shows the two sides side by side: the lot indeed includes a single recto-verso leaf.

The detailed photographs are an integral part of the description.