Nuremberg Chronicle
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Depiction of God creating the world |
The
Nuremberg Chronicle (in German known as
Schedel'sche Weltchronik) is one of the best documented early printed books. The Chronicle is an illustrated world history, in which the contents are divided into seven ages:
*First age: From
Creation to
Deluge*Second age: Until birth of
Abraham*Third age: Until
King David*Fourth age: Until
Babylonian captivity*Fifth age: Until birth of
Jesus Christ*Sixth age: Present time (largest part)
*Seventh age: Outlook on the end of the world and the
Last JudgementThe Chronicle was first published in
Latin on
12 June 1493 and was quickly followed by a
German translation on
23 December 1493. Scholars estimate that 1400-1500 Latin and 700-1000 German copies were published. A document from
1509 records that 539 Latin versions and 60 German versions had not been sold. Approximately 400 Latin and 300 German copies survived into the twenty-first century.
The author of the Nuremberg Chronicle is
Hartmann Schedel, while
Georg Alt is credited with the German translation. The prominent artist
Albrecht Dürer was an apprentice during the making of the 1,804 woodblock illustrations.
As was common at the time, the book did not have a title page. Latin scholars refer to it as
Liber Chronicarum (
Book of Chronicles) as this phrase appears in the index introduction of the Latin edition. English speakers have long referred to it as the
Nuremberg Chronicle after the city in which it was published. German speakers refer to it as
Die Schedelsche Weltchronik (
Schedel's World History) in honour of its author.
*
Beloit College's extensive account of their version of the Chronicle, with illustrations
