1493 – H. Schedel – CCII

Titles:           “CCII”

Description:

A richly illustrated leaf from Hartmann Schedel’s Latin edition of the “Liber chronicarum,” published in Nuremberg in 1493, bringing together six named woodcut portraits on a single page: three celebrated physicians of the medieval Islamic world, an English archbishop-martyr, and two reigning popes.

Recto (Folio CCII) carries four portraits set directly into the text. Avicenna (“Avicenna”), the Persian polymath and author of the Canon of Medicine, is shown examining a flask, the standard attribute of the physician in period imagery. Beside him are Averroes (“Averrois comentator”), the Cordoban philosopher known as “the Commentator” for his work on Aristotle, and Avenzoar (“Avenzoar medicus”), another Andalusian physician remembered for his treatise on therapeutics. The fourth portrait shows Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (“S. Thomas archieps Cantuarien.”), in his vestments; the accompanying text recounts his exile under Henry II, his return to England, and his eventual martyrdom.

Verso continues the papal history with the reigns of Adrian IV (“Hadrianus quartus”), the only Englishman ever elected pope, and Alexander III (“Alexander tercius”), touching on the schism with the imperial antipope backed by Frederick Barbarossa and Alexander’s later canonization of Becket. Portrait roundels of both popes appear in the outer margin beneath the heading “Linea summorum pontificum” (“Line of the Supreme Pontiffs”), part of the continuous papal-portrait sequence that runs through this section of the Chronicle.

Page number: CCII

Worth knowing about the book itself: almost none of the portraits are individual likenesses — the same “generic ruler” and “generic pope” woodblocks get recycled again and again throughout the Chronicle for whichever figure is being discussed. And the red-ink initials and headings are rubrication, added by hand after printing, which is typical for surviving copies.

The Nuremberg Chronicles was the first printed history of the known world with about 2000 woodcuts the most picturesque work of the early time of printing. It became one of the most popular books of the 15th. century. The woodblock cutters were Michael Wolgemut, teacher of Albrecht Dürer and his stepson Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. The printing was carried out under the supervision of the great scholar-printer Anton Koberger.

Author:                    Hartmann Schedel (1440 – 1514)
Sheet size:              43,3 x 31,3 cm
Year:                         1493
Technique:            wood block

Condition:
In good condition.

 

This is an original antique map published in 1493 and NOT a modern copy or reprint

 

On your request I will provide a Certificate of Authenticity