Commonly known as the Nuremberg chronicle.
Title extracted from woodcut title of register (leaf [1]/1r).
Incipit leaf [1]/2r: Tabula operis hui[us] de temporibus mundi. vt historia reru[mque] ceteraru[m] ac vrbiu[m] in se sparsim varieq[ue] scripta ...
Colophon on leaf CCLXVI marks the completion of the work of Hartmann Schedel; George Alt is the author of the remainder of the text.
Woocut ills. by Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. Albrecht Dürer was an apprentice in Wolgemut's workshop and may have assisted in the production of some of the woodcuts. There are 1809 illustrations produced from 645 unique woodblocks with 1164 repeats.
Imprint from colophon on verso of leaf [CCC].
Colophon on verso of leaf CCLVIIIr (leaf [53]/4v): ... ex Nuremberga .x. kal[end]as Junias. Anno ab incarnatione saluatoris [Christ]i Millesimo quadringentesimononagesimotercio [10 June 1493].
Colophon on recto of leaf CCLXVIr (leaf [54]/5r): Completo in famosissima Nurembergensi vrbe Operi de hystorijs etatum mundi. ac descriptione vrbium felix imponitur finis. Collectum breui tempore Auxilio doctoris hartma[n]ni Schedel. qua fieri potuit diligentia. Anno [christ]i Millesimo quadringentesimo nonagesimotercio. die quarto mensis Junij [4 June 1493]. Deo igitur optimo, sint laudes infinite.
Colophon on verso of leaf [CCCv] (leaf [60]/4v: Adest nunc studiose lector finis libri Cronicarum per viam epithomatis [et] breuiarij compilati opus q[ui]dem preclarum. [et] a doctissimo quoq[ue] comparandum. Continet e[ni]m gesta. quecu[m]q[ue] digniora sunt notatu ab initio mu[n]di ad hanc vsq[ue] te[m]poris nostir calamitatem. Castigatu[m]q[ue] a viris doctissimis ut magis elaboratum in lucem prodiret. Ad intuitu[m] autem & preces prouidoru[m] ciuiu[m] Sebaldi Schreyer & Sebastiani kamermaister hunc librum dominus Anthonius koberger Nuremberge impressit. Adhibitis tame[n] viris mathematicis pingendiq[ue] arte peritissimis. Michaele wolgemut et wilhelmo Pleydenwurff. quaru[m] solerti acuratissimaq[ue] animaduersione tum ciuitatum tum illustrium virorum figure inserte sunt. Consummatu[m] autem duodecima mensis Iulij. Anno saltus n[ost]r[a]e 1493 [12 July 1493].
Printed in Koberger's types 9:165G and 16:110G.
Collation: [1-2⁶ 3⁸; 4⁶ 5-7⁴ 8-11⁶ 12² 13⁴ 14-16⁶ 17² 18-19⁶ 20-25⁴ 26-29⁶ 30² 31⁶ 32⁴ 33-35⁶ 36² 37⁴ 38-54⁶; 55-59⁶ 60⁴ 61⁶]: 326 leaves, leaves [54]/6 and [61]/6 blank.
Paper format: Imperial folio.
Unsigned gatherings. Errors in foliation: leaves XXXIX, CCXXIX, and CCXLVII misnumbered XIXX, CCXXXI, and CCXLXVII respectively. Fol. CCLVIIII, CCLX and CCLXI, intended to fill in events from 1493 onward, are blank except for the head-lines.
Gothic type. Spaces planned for the insertion of illuminated initials left blank. Table and parts of the text in two columns.
Woocuts by Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. Albrecht Dürer was an apprentice in Wolgemut's workshop and may have assisted in the production of some of the woodcuts. There are 1809 illustrations produced from 645 unique woodblocks with 1164 repeats. Variants listed by W.B. Todd, The Book Collector, 1964, pp.497-498. See A. Wilson, The making of the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1976. 2 woodcut maps.
PML copy leaf dimensions: 47.8 x 32.2 cm.
PML copy missing 1 leaf: [54]/6 (blank), and with "De Sarmacia regione Europe" bound at end (quire 61⁶).
Title on leaf [1r]: Registrum huius operis libri cronicarum cu[m] figuris et ymagibus ab inicio mu[n]di
Hand decoration: Contemporary rubrication, red and blue initials (red intials in register in very florid style, with kidney- or curly bracket-shaped parts of letterforms, pommegranite finial motifs), primary initial in blue with foliate decoration and pink/red penwork (leaf [4]/1r). Annotations: Contemporary notations (in brown ink in a clear gothic hand with small florishes to letterforms) sporadically throughout text, more significant in final quires, including: notes on Trier woodcut (XXIIIr (leaf [8]/5r), suggesting possible location of copy), identification of Schedel as author, "Hartmannus Schedel huius op[er]is auctor" (leaf CCLIIv ([52]/4v)), notes on Kulenburg (leaf CCLXXXXIIIv ([57]/5v), on the archbishop of Cologne (leaf CCLXXXIVv (leaf [57]/6v)). Style of rubrication and marginal notes point towards Westphalia/Lower Rhine provenance.