Türkiye - Constantinople/ Istanbul; Hartmann Schedel/ Wohlgemut/ Pleydenwurff/Dürer - The Nuremberg Chronicle (Liber Chronicarum) - 1493

A spectacular, beautifully detailed original 15th-century woodcut view of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) from the monumental Nuremberg Chronicle (1493). It perfectly captures the exceptional artistic quality and historical depth of one of the world's most famous incunabula illustrations.

Original incunabulum leaf CCXLIX (249) from the Nuremberg Chronicle of Hartmann Schedel, the first German edition from 1493.

An incunabulum (cradle print) is a book printed in Europe before 1 January 1501, when the printing press was still in its infancy, and of which the text is set in movable type. They are now rarely seen on the market.

The Nuremberg Chronicle (Liber Chronicarum) by Hartmann Schedel is one of the most famous and best illustrated incunabula. The beautiful woodcuts were made by Michael Wohlgemut (1434/37-1519) and his stepson Wilhelm Pleydenwurff (1450-1494), a teacher of Albrecht Dürer. Dürer probably also contributed to the execution of many of the woodcuts for this incunabulum.

The recto shows a view of Constantinople, with its fortified walls, towers, domed buildings and surrounding waterways, beneath a German account of the city’s conquest by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.

The verso depicts three hand-coloured woodcut portraits: the Persian king identified in the Chronicle as “Suncassianus,” the Franciscan preacher Saint John of Capistrano holding a crucifix, and the Italian humanist and poet Francesco Filelfo.

This is not a facsimile edition, but an original leaf printed in the 15th century - so 533 years old!
Rare in coloured version.

Dimensions: 45 x 30,5 cm

Good condition, few spots in white margin. Old annotations.