Contributions to the 6th AICCM Book, Paper & Photographic Materials Symposium. 17-19th November 2010, Melbourne. p89
Poster Abstract
The poster will show the conservation treatment of a fifteenth-century incunabule, the famous Nuremberg Chronicle by Dr. Hartmann Schedel published in 1493 by Anton Koberger. An ambitious example of early printing, indeed a tour de force at the very end of the incunabula period (1450-1501), the volume is notable for layout of great complexity combining text and woodblock illustrations from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut (1434-1519). Known as Die Schedelsche Weltchronik in German, the volume is a history of the world from the Creation until the present day (1493). The library holds two versions of Schedel’s Weltchronik, the original in Latin and a translation into German, made by Georg Alt, which appeared some months later in 1493. The German version, the subject of the poster, has an unusual ‘hybrid’ binding made in the mid-nineteenth century incorporating fragments of stamped pigskin of a much earlier date (fifteenth or sixteenth century), elaborate boards imitating medieval wooden board binding and gaufferred (ie., incised) decoration on the gilt text block edges. The poster will recount the treatment in detail and address some issues regarding the date, place of origin and character of this unusual binding