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Hartmann Schedel], Das Buch der Chroniken und Geschichten (Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1493) Facsimile, (Nuremberg Chronicle). New York: Landmark Press, 1979. Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries |
Nuremberg physician, Hermann Schedel, is considered the compiler of the Nuremberg Chronicle. Schedel received his education in Italy where he was influenced by humanist scholars and became one of the earliest Germans to learn Greek. He began work on the Chronicle at the suggestion of two wealthy businessmen in Nuremberg who financed the publication of the book. For this project, Schedel showed himself to be the heir to the medieval scholastic tradition of compiling and excerpting texts from older sources. Building on the rediscovery of classical texts by the Renaissance humansists Schedel adopted more than 90% of the entire Latin text directly from his sources. His only original contribution consist of linking sentences and occasional brief commentaries.
The pages above are show how Schedel's reliance on original sources to inform both the text and the woodcuts of the Chronicle. The text traces golden age of Jerusalem, outlines the city's importance, and describes its destruction. The content derives from Flavius Josephus The Jewish War and the woodcut is drawn from Erhard Reuwich's previously published map of Palestine.
Click on the images below to learn more about the production and meaning of the Nuremberg Chronicle.
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