Nuremberg Chronicle for Auction
Published October 15th, 2008
A 1493 first edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle is for auction at Heritage’s Dallas. Texas, headquarters, as part of the Grand Format Rare Books Auction on Oct. 16
This early secular history of the world was printed at a time when the Western world’s idea of itself was rapidly expanding. Christopher Columbus had sailed for the Americas only a year before. The printing press was a relatively new invention, and the educated population of Europe was just beginning to experience the power of the printed word and what access to printed materials would mean. The world was no longer flat and the population of Europe gaining in literacy. This book is one of the earliest and most ambitious printed histories of civilization to that time, and it reflects the intellectual quickening in Europe.
he edition, with its classic gothic type, features more than 1,800 woodcut illustrations by Michael Wolgemut, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, and their workshop, which purportedly included the young Albrecht Dürer. Included are Biblical images and identified views of famous cities, as well as a series of charts illustrating the Ptolemaic geocentric view of the universe. It was one of the first secular histories of the world ever printed. The Nuremberg Chronicle is generally considered one of the most important illustrated books of the incunable period.
The text is a year-by-year account of notable events in world history from the Creation up to the year of publication, including the invention of printing at Mainz, the exploration of the Atlantic and of Africa. It includes references to the game of chess and to medical curiosities, including what is believed to be the first depiction of Siamese twins. It carries an estimate of $75,000 – $100,000.
Auction info www.HA.com
