Colonia

Coloured woodcut town view of Köln, Cologne. Printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberger in 1493.

Reference 12998

Description

Decorative incunable double-leaf in folio showing Cologne (Köln) by Hartmann Schedel. The oldest panoramic view of Breslau. From the Latin edition of the famous Liber chronicarum or Nuremberg Chronicle published in 1493, the year that Columbus returned to Europe after discovering America. Leaf number XCI.

Elements of this view are based on W. Rolevinck (1474/80) and the ‘Master of the Glorification of the Virgin’ (2nd half of the 15th century). The woodcut offered here is one of the oldest authentic views of Cologne and realistically the only large 15th century view available to collectors.

The woodblock cutters were Michael Wolgemut, the well-known teacher of Albrecht Dürer, and his stepson Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. Wohlgemut was Albrecht Dürer's tutor between 1486-90. Since the young Dürer was active in Wohlgemut's printer shop during the time the woodblock for the Nuremberg Chronicle have produced, he may also have collaborated, since some of the cuts bear a remarkably close resemblance to his Apocalypse illustrations.

Details

Cartographer	Hartmann Schedel
Title	Colonia
Publisher, Year	Anton Koberger, Nuremberg, 1493
Plate Size	19.5 x 53.0 cm (7.7 x 20.9 inches)
Sheet Size	43.0 x 61.0 cm (16.9 x 24.0 inches)
Reference	Kreuer, W., Imago Civitatis, p. 76-81; Bachmann, F.: Die Alten Städtebilder, No. 90/91

Condition

Slightly browned. Very good condition.

Cartographer

Hartmann Schedel was born 1440 in Nuremberg. He studied in Leipzig and Padua several disciplines also Physics, Medicine and Laws. Neither his social position nor his business made him famous, but his major work the so called Schedel's World Chronicle. The incunable was issued 1493 in Latin, followed by the German edition in the same year. It contains more than 1800 woodcuts out of Michael Wolgemut woodcut shop. Albrecht Dürer completed an apprenticeship with Wolgemut around 1490, so even Dürer may has worked on these woodcuts. Many of the illustrations showing cities the first time ever. In 1497 the Small Schedel was printed by Johann Schönsperger in Augsburg, a reduced version of the Nuremberg print also smaller in size. Schedel died 1514 in Nuremberg.

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Hartmann Schedel: Colonia.

Coloured woodcut town view of Köln, Cologne. Printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberger in 1493.

North Rhine-Westphalia - Schedel, Hartmann - Colonia