The Making of the Nuremberg Chronicle
- Leather bound
- Amsterdam: Nico Israel, 1976
Amsterdam: Nico Israel, 1976. First and Limited Edition. Leather bound. Near fine. One of 1000 copies, folio size, 257 pp., in a custom binding with clamshell box. The Nuremberg Chronicle (also known as the "Liber Chronicarum") "is, after the Gutenberg Bible, probably the most celebrated of early printed books. It is a compendium of history, geography and the wonders of the world as viewed from medieval Nuremberg, with some 1800 illustrations provided by the multiple use, for different subjects, of 645 beautiful woodblocks..." (n.b., quote from "The Nuremberg Chronicle Designs" by Adrian Wilson, printed for The Roxburghe Club of San Francisco and the Zamorano Club of Los Angeles, 1969).
Adrian Wilson, known for his Press in Tuscany Alley (one of the best of the San Francisco fine press printshops of its day), here turned his considerable talents and experience in book design to the exploration of the page layouts for the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493). The story of the discovery of these layouts (exemplars) is herein recounted, telling the story of how this magnificent book came into being. Wilson relates how he worked with the librarians who had custody of the German and Latin Chronicles, the many serendipitous finds of stray pieces of the puzzle, and the many with whom he worked to put all of these pieces into place. "With all the resources at hand we have attempted to reconstruct the making of the Nuremberg Chronicle: the compilation of manuscript sources by its author; the artists' first concepts for the illustrations; the patrons' agreements for financing the publication; the layouts; the printing; the advertising; the distribution, and the final settlement..." (n.b., from the Preface, p. 11).
This copy with a unique custom binding by Ernest Hassbaum of Lodi (1913-1994). The volume is bound in full brown leather, with a debossed wrap-around silhouette of (presumably) the skyline of medieval Nuremberg, protected by a clamshell box with the same skyline in black leather laid onto the cloth covering. PLEASE NOTE: the first picture shown is our best attempt to depict the debossed skyline, it is not representative of the colour of the leather binding.
Selected as one of the Netherlands Fifty Books of the Year.
___DESCRIPTION: Custom binding as described above with Hassbaum's name on the bottom front turn-in, the spine with two slightly darker brown pieces of leather laid down (one with the middle of the wrap-around skyline silhouette, the other with the title and author debossed in black), hand-made marbled endpapers, at both front and back are reproductions of a medieval map on rust-coloured paper, the lettering of the title on the title page by Hermann Zapf, replete with reproductions of individual pages of the Chronicle (both the exemplars and the final, printed pages) as well as other, related illustrations, most of them in black-and-white, twelve pages in full colour, with extensive Bibliography at the rear; Monotype Bembo printed offset on specially made ivory wove paper, folio size (13 7/8" by 9 3/4"), pagination: [2, printed map pages] [3-8] 9-253 [1, blank] [1, colophon] [2, printed map pages], one of 1000 copies (unnumbered). Housed in a custom clamshell box as described above.
___CONDITION: Volume near fine, the boards clean, the leather smooth and supple, straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; a few very light marks to the leather, some lighter areas surrounding the silhouette (we assume from the process of depicting the same), else fine. The clamshell box almost near fine, the leather skyline onlay without noticeable wear, the cloth covering clean other than a few light, stray marks, structurally sound with no tears, however, a bit of looseness (likely due to the weight of the book), light wear along the bottom edges, the corners just beginning to fray a bit, some light dustiness to the top edge. Altogether, a near fine, visually stunning binding, compatible with the subject.
___CITATION: Wilson, no. 177.
___POSTAGE: Please note that the book and box together are unusually heavy and additional postage may apply; please inquire for details.
___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.
Adrian Wilson, known for his Press in Tuscany Alley (one of the best of the San Francisco fine press printshops of its day), here turned his considerable talents and experience in book design to the exploration of the page layouts for the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493). The story of the discovery of these layouts (exemplars) is herein recounted, telling the story of how this magnificent book came into being. Wilson relates how he worked with the librarians who had custody of the German and Latin Chronicles, the many serendipitous finds of stray pieces of the puzzle, and the many with whom he worked to put all of these pieces into place. "With all the resources at hand we have attempted to reconstruct the making of the Nuremberg Chronicle: the compilation of manuscript sources by its author; the artists' first concepts for the illustrations; the patrons' agreements for financing the publication; the layouts; the printing; the advertising; the distribution, and the final settlement..." (n.b., from the Preface, p. 11).
This copy with a unique custom binding by Ernest Hassbaum of Lodi (1913-1994). The volume is bound in full brown leather, with a debossed wrap-around silhouette of (presumably) the skyline of medieval Nuremberg, protected by a clamshell box with the same skyline in black leather laid onto the cloth covering. PLEASE NOTE: the first picture shown is our best attempt to depict the debossed skyline, it is not representative of the colour of the leather binding.
Selected as one of the Netherlands Fifty Books of the Year.
___DESCRIPTION: Custom binding as described above with Hassbaum's name on the bottom front turn-in, the spine with two slightly darker brown pieces of leather laid down (one with the middle of the wrap-around skyline silhouette, the other with the title and author debossed in black), hand-made marbled endpapers, at both front and back are reproductions of a medieval map on rust-coloured paper, the lettering of the title on the title page by Hermann Zapf, replete with reproductions of individual pages of the Chronicle (both the exemplars and the final, printed pages) as well as other, related illustrations, most of them in black-and-white, twelve pages in full colour, with extensive Bibliography at the rear; Monotype Bembo printed offset on specially made ivory wove paper, folio size (13 7/8" by 9 3/4"), pagination: [2, printed map pages] [3-8] 9-253 [1, blank] [1, colophon] [2, printed map pages], one of 1000 copies (unnumbered). Housed in a custom clamshell box as described above.
___CONDITION: Volume near fine, the boards clean, the leather smooth and supple, straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; a few very light marks to the leather, some lighter areas surrounding the silhouette (we assume from the process of depicting the same), else fine. The clamshell box almost near fine, the leather skyline onlay without noticeable wear, the cloth covering clean other than a few light, stray marks, structurally sound with no tears, however, a bit of looseness (likely due to the weight of the book), light wear along the bottom edges, the corners just beginning to fray a bit, some light dustiness to the top edge. Altogether, a near fine, visually stunning binding, compatible with the subject.
___CITATION: Wilson, no. 177.
___POSTAGE: Please note that the book and box together are unusually heavy and additional postage may apply; please inquire for details.
___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.
Details
Title
The Making of the Nuremberg Chronicle
Author
Wilson, Adrian [assisted by] Wilson, Joyce Lancaster; Zahn, Peter (Introduction)
Binding
Leather bound
Condition
Near Fine
Publisher
Nico Israel: Amsterdam
Date
1976
Edition
First and Limited Edition