Incunable
As incunabula (from Latin incunabula, " diapers, cots, origin " ) or incunabula printed between the completion of the Gutenberg Bible in 1454, and 31 December 1500 with movable type, books and broadsheets are called.
Incunabula were first minted in format, typography and illustration from the appearance of medieval manuscripts, which is transformed by the technical and economic development since the beginning of the 16th century to the modern book printing. Their preparation was carried out by specifically named printer, they also expelled. Incunabula are evidence for the beginning of technically -based dissemination of records in Europe, and today they dar. valuable cultural
The number of preserved incunabula worldwide is estimated to be about 27,500 plants with a total number of 550,000 copies. Letterpress works from the subsequent early 16th century are sometimes referred to as postincunabula.
- 4.1 Postinkunabel
- 4.2 Outlook into the 16th century
The concept
The metaphorical term incunabula for a printing refers to the early days of printing, as a printing plant and its manufacture were still as it were in the cradle or in diapers. Demonstrated the concept for the first time in the resulting 1640-1657 handwritten bibliography Antiquarum impressionum a primaeva artis typographicae origine et usque ad annum inventione secularem MD deductio of Bernhard von Mallinckrodt. The German name incunable be attributed to two more books directories from the 17th century as a source in the Grimms' dictionary. In the early 19th century, the term was first introduced by collectors, and later by the researchers as a technical term and is now internationally established (in some languages in the Latin version) in the book Science and the Inkunabelforschung.
The restriction to call released only until December 31, 1500 printing units as incunabula is a based on older directories Convention of the book and library science of the 20th century to provide an overview of the stocks. Completely arbitrary, this agreement is not, however, because winning in the first decade of the 16th century typography and set clear of technical sophistication, even if at this time, numerous prints were made which had the appearance of previous decades.
Also as incunabula the firstfruits other graphic arts are referred to, which have been prepared in various industrial processes such as woodcut, engraving, etching and lithography. These are referred to as " incunables " of the respective graphic art. For this reason, for better distinction in the German language the incunabula of printing '' '' called incunabula. Chance of the earliest examples of specific directions are referred to as incunabula in the metaphorical use of the term in architecture as well as in other arts, for example, as " incunabula of modernity."
Precursor
Since 1400 high-pressure processes were known in Germany; the hand-operated printing press for printing, for example, by playing cards and broadsides existed middle of the 15th century already. It arose block books, in which the double pages have been completely cut with image and text from the respective wooden printing block and the single-sided sheets afterwards, folded in the middle, could be placed against each other and stapled flip. In block pages the images prevailed; the negative section of the letter was difficult, most of the text has been manually inserted. The pressure stick of wood allowed only a relatively small edition.
From China and Korea had reached in the Middle Ages by way of the Arabic -speaking world, the art of papermaking to Europe. In the 11th century it had tried in China, with the pressure in individual letters, a method, however, which required very thin paper, therefore allowing only single-sided printing and not prevailed. After the papermaking in Europe had begun and begun its triumphant in the 15th century to displace the expensive parchment unstoppable, she had thus also the technical reproduction of the supplied base. The performance of Johannes Gutenberg, who is considered the inventor of the printing press in Europe, was the development of a Handgießinstruments and an alloy for the production of individual letters out of metal. In 1454 he finished the pressure of a so-called after the number of lines per page 42-line Latin Bible, the " B42 " or Gutenberg Bible; he could financially successful exploit his invention, however, not.
Development
Peter Schoeffer, who had assisted in the printing of the Gutenberg B42, recognized the opportunities to use the new technology to the production of commercially letters. In John Fust, a wealthy citizen of Mainz, he found a fellow who was willing to invest money in the printing press. After the Mainz model, the new technology used in about 30 years throughout Europe, everywhere arose Offizine called Druckwerkstätten with their own trademark.
Dissemination
In addition to Strasbourg, where John Mentelin had opened a Offizin to 1458 and in 1466 the first Bible published in German, and later in the 1480s Johann Green Ingersoll continued the successes of the first generation of printers, formed in the 1460s and 1470s, the cities of Cologne, Nuremberg, Bamberg and Augsburg further pressure centers. So worked in Cologne Ulrich Zell of Hanau and Johann Koelhoff the Elder. , A native of Lübeck. In Nuremberg Anton Koberger printed since about 1470 successful; be pressure from the World Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel 1493, besides the Gutenberg Bible one of the most famous incunabula. In Bamberg, where Albrecht Pfister of 1460 worked until 1464, the pressure of German and folk literature established. In Augsburg settled around 1468 Zainer Günther, who had learned the printing at Mentelin in Strasbourg.
In the 1470s, Lübeck opened the new commercial access to the Baltic Sea; Lucas Brandis, already a family of printers entstammend, worked here from 1473. Leipzig, the later German capital of printing, was late in the connection to the new art; Marcus Brandis is in this city occupied by a first printing in 1481. In Basel, the printer devoted in particular the dissemination of ideas of Humanism; from 1477 printed and represented Johann Amerbach the writings of this circle. In addition, the book illustration developed in Basel at an estimated art to which the young Dürer contributed.
Economics
By 1480, sales of printed works remained limited; the urban audience was consistently unable, manufactured in comparatively small numbers of 200 to 250 pieces and still acquire very expensive printing works. One of the surest supports of the young industry have therefore included ecclesiastical major contracts, for example for measurement books, such as the Missal Aboense.
Since the circulation increase depended on the demand, they tried in many places against competition and regulatory Reprinted with hand pressure privileges granted to protect. The job of a printer, became the migrant professional. Especially in Italy taught German printer Offizine a; also in France, Spain and Sweden are occupied established German printer in the 15th century. Particularly influential was the Augsburg Erhard Ratdolt in Venice, especially the printed astronomical and mathematical works there. Aldus Manutius, the most famous Italian printer of Venice, favored from 1495 mentioned his Aldine series of Greek classics dissemination via Italy's borders.
As of 1480, the Offizine gradually developed into large farms, consisting of publishing, production and distribution, often associated with a bookbinding; the run length was 1000 pieces, the books were cheaper and easier to handle. The significant of the early 16th century Basel printer Johann Froben, employees in the Amerbachschen Offizin, printed in 1491 a Latin Bible in your pocket.
Content
The contents of the prints was followed by the development of Offizine to publishers and distributors, it was the authorship. In addition to Bibles, religious ( and heretical ) writings, such as sermons and letters, the printing press covered the 1470/80er years already, the range of subjects from which finds its readers up to the present day: scholar ( in Latin, the European lingua franca ), folksy and country Linguistic, world, teaching and herb books, Legal and Medical, Literary tungsten to Boccaccio, travel stories, satires and calendar; printed in Rome, the Ingolstadt- Ulrich Han, probably assisted by a native of Passau Stephan Plannck, 1476 Engraving of a Roman Missal. Ottaviano dei Petrucci, inventor of the music print with movable type, is considered the first major music publishers.
With increasing production of letterpress followed not only by the particular customer need reading, but it also began to awaken by the prospect of new products. However, for a significant business risk was associated. Not at all Offizine were able to take this also, such as the operation of Johann Zainer in Ulm, a relative of the Augsburg printer, which became heavily indebted.
Manuscripts
The clerical circles remained consistently throughout Europe the development of printing skeptical; they set up their own Offizine, such as in the monasteries of St. Ulrich and Afra in Augsburg or in Blaubeuren, hesitant, and gave further from the scriptoria manuscripts in order. Writers workshops were able at first nor the young printers' art to stand up to, by trying in addition to the ecclesiastical authorities to reach interested buyers of known literature with manuscripts, illustrated quickly and with a steady hand drawings by professional artists. For example, the home side's until the 70 years of the 15th century workshop of Diebold Lauber occupied to produce in Haguenau in stock and a time to compete long with the sales strategies of the printer.
So led the unstoppable rise of printing the manuscript production to a last great flowering in Europe, in the illumination. As in the books of hours, breviaries and devotional books explained the painting in liturgical manuscripts the text to a marginal to a part of the image. The book painting of the late 15th and the early 16th century gave an exclusive audience the large panel painting of the Renaissance in miniature.
Typography and typesetting
The aim and function of the printer was to make text appear as a block in a single rate levels; him stood for, following the example of medieval manuscripts cast ligatures and abbreviations, which are letters with eg Tilden or other characters that were used for abbreviation of, inter alia, frequently occurring inflections in Latin, as well as available in various widths molded letters to bring the lines in a uniform and balanced paragraph to. Gutenberg had made a total of 290 different letters, for example, his B42. The usual appearance of manuscripts according to the initials were not printed, but later painted by hand and decorated, also grudge the capitals partly by hand and rubricated the printed text in alternating red and blue ( or only in red). Illustrations were installed as a woodcut usually in the sentence, sometimes the woodblocks were called by separate jewelry trims, borders, adapted to the type area; Colorations were carried out individually by hand in the finished print.
The prints had no title pages, the author and his subject appeared in the introductory paragraph, the incipit on. The printer is set at the end of the work as the colophon Explicit, a note with his name, the place and the date of his work and closed the pressure with its brand from.
The typography was based in Germany, first to the readers familiar writing of the manuscripts. From about 1470 such affiliation was increasingly abandoned. In Augsburg, was built around 1472 with the Schwabacher up in the middle of the 16th century prevailing in Germany publication. Adolf Rusch, son of John Mentelins and the ideas of humanism inclined, introduced in 1474 with the pressure of rationale divinorum officiorum the Antiqua -type north of the Alps; Ratdolt Erhard, who had returned in 1486 from Venice to Augsburg, printed there a first font sample sheet of Antiqua. At the beginning of the 16th century continued with the Emperor Maximilian I. transported printing but with the Theuerdank a Fraktur by. The letter, however, had already been compared to Gutenberg's letters or Theuerdank, started to become increasingly thinner and thus a brightening of the set image that was too wide for the benefit of a stronger -white portion and with a smaller font size legible. On colored rubrications was increasingly omitted, ornamented initials appeared now printed.
Bindings of the 15th century
Although often a bookbinding workshop was associated with the printing, prints were often stored unbound, shipped in tons and bound only at the place of sale. There were various logistics centers such as Lübeck for the Baltic Sea Region.
The covers of the first prints were not different from those of the manuscripts. The incunabula of the first decades, consistently printed in folio or quarto, were usually a book cover of two wooden plates, which were covered with leather or parchment, the stapled back circumaural, based. Leather and parchment often received a print with decorative ornaments, which were pressed with heated metal dies or rolls in the wet material. The ornament with metal fittings also served as a spacer for the book resting to conserve the valuable cover; Close of metal or leather brought the reading book afterwards spread back into shape. Most often allowed to, not least for reasons of cost, integrate several different printing units of the same size together.
The printed books were treasures in the 15th century; to the reading desks in the monastic libraries were often secured with a heavy chain, to protect them from falling or the unauthorized removal. Complete " chain books" are rarely obtained because later owner removed these bulky and inconvenient security in general; nevertheless show a number of the obtained Originaleinbände the traces of the chain stopper on the back cover.
In the 15th century, quite the cover was still common in the well-known medieval Kopert; that was a soft envelope made of parchment or leather, was thrown over the front of the book on each other and attached to the back of the bound printing unit and so the book protected all around. Also covers in the form of bags books that had integrated a support device, were given by the owner of a print at the bookbinder in order. With the development of the printing press to smaller and cheaper formats, the book cover was designed less weight; in the 16th century over cardboard laminated covers translated by final.
The sighting and exploration of the obtained bindings, especially their details, such as the so-called Pergamentmakulatur has emerged in the 20th century as part of the book studies in the field of Inkunabelkunde; Originaleinbände are comparatively rare, as binding material and over the centuries the weight of the heavy wooden lid often could not withstand and they used to remove the damaged bindings consistently and renew the bond along with the book cover until the 20th century. Existing stocks are recognized in the still relatively young cover research and listed in the database cover the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; using the rubbings offered there bindings can be assigned to the individual bookbinding workshops.
Successor
From 1 January 1501 to about 1520 printed writings are called postincunabula or early prints; sometimes the term is extended to include the period to 1530 or 1550.
Postinkunabel
One of the most famous is the postincunabula of Emperor Maximilian I, along with two courtiers wrote Theuerdank, in which the emperor is the hero himself; the illustrated work was published in 1517 by Provost Melchior Pfintzing in Nuremberg and already in 1519 experienced the second edition. The emperor glorified in this work, because he recognized the propaganda value of the printing press; he had consistently reproduce in print his of their own, more conservative imperial politics serving rallies. During the time of the Reformation, the printing press was then for the first time in its history the opportunity to be fighting as reconnaissance for new ideas.
Until 1520 many early prints were similar in appearance yet very their predecessors from the previous century. In many places were successful titles, such as the Strasbourg hero book, reprinted and initially still left in their older form; Latin translations of successful in their own language works, such as the Reynke de vos or Brant Narrenschyff, opened the books of a European market.
View into the 16th century
In the 16th century the readership expanded steadily, and in 1550 there were in the urban environment in Europe is already an enthusiastic reading public, the readers could not always write. Early printed document in volume, pressure and features the high speed of technological development preceded in letterpress printing at the beginning of the 16th century - with smaller and more manageable ( and also: cheapest ) formats, on the basis of an improving casting techniques and alloys, thus slimmer expectant typography and now the careful design of front pages as an incentive for the buyer. With the preference of the text that prints the first decades of the 16th century illustrate the victory of the printed word over the image, in the reduced form of printing spread, as Illustration subordinated the text and the painted splendor of the manuscripts in the niche referred. Typographers, such as Francesco Torniello, examined how the artists of the ideal form. The printing press of the 15th century and the early 16th century in Europe represents a unique congruence of aesthetics and technology.
Ratings
The value of the incunables has long been known; they are highly sought after by collectors as relics, as such are treasured by the libraries and appreciated by the philologists and historians as sources. Since the 1990s began in the international market for old papers, prices for incunabula to rise astronomically; sold as an international auction house in 2002 not a single press of Peter and John Fust Schoeffer for half a million pounds. At the beginning of the 21st century appeared also illustrated reinforced single sheets, increasingly in particular on the international online marketplaces. Since then, the accusation is of scientists, archivists and librarians to the trade repeatedly raised, " break up " old and rare books for the purpose of profitable sales of single sheets.
Incunabula and early printed books are for European history, not only for the spirit, a heritage of the first rank. Victor Hugo wrote about this:
" The invention of printing is the greatest event in history, the mother of all revolutions. You gave mankind a new means of expression for new thoughts. The spirit spurned the old form and grabbed another; he skinned completely and permanently as the serpent, which is his symbol since Adam. As printed word, the idea is imperishable than ever. It grew him wings; he has become intangible, indestructible. In the days of architecture he heaped on mountains and seized by force of a century and a place: Now he joins the birds scattered to the four winds and is present everywhere. "
Directories
According to the current count of the resulting global stocks to 28000-30000 various editions of incunabula have received, of which approximately 125,000 single copies are in Germany.
The first recorded printed catalog of a collection of incunabula, the Catalogus Librorum proximis from inventione annis usque ad a Chr 1500 editorum the Nuremberg City Library was the first time in 1643 by John Saubert the Elder. mentioned. In the 18th century, Georg Wolfgang Panzer summed up in the first five volumes of his monumental work Annales typographici, published in Nuremberg from 1793 to 1797, the printing works of the 15th century together. From 1800 began librarians to mark in older books directories prints from the 15th century or be recorded separately as handwritten appendix. During the 19th century fostered the interest of collectors and, increasingly, researchers at the incunabula; the suggestion to gain an overview of the inherited from the early phase of the printing press printing units, led to a number of directories. The best-known and basic for the systematic collection, begun in the 20th century was the repertory Bibliographicum of Ludwig Hain, which was created 1826-1838 and performed 16,299 titles.
All prints of the 15th century (with location references) are listed in alphabetical order in the union catalog of incunabula (GW ), which has been published since 1925 Hiersemann publisher. To date there are ten volumes, volume 11 is in preparation. Thus, the letters AH will be fully covered. The editors of the GW takes place in the Berlin State Library, which has now created a database ( with access also to the not yet published in print materials ).
The incunabula of the German language and cultural area fall within the scope of the collection German prints in the remit of the Bavarian State Library, which holds even 16,785 copies in 9573 titles. The library developed to its own catalog of incunabula and the Incunabula Census of the Federal Republic of Germany. It also maintains the database for broadsheets broadsheets the early modern period and working on international Incunabula Short Title Catalogue ( ISTC) with. The ISTC is run by the British Library in London and with about 28,000 titles, the world's largest database of incunabula.
Based on the above resources since the mid of 2005, the Distributed Digital Incunabula online, present in the well 1,000 incunabula held by the University and City Library of Cologne and the Herzog August Library as digital copies.
Distribution by location and language
Incunabula by region
Incunabula by language
The graphs are based on the record of the Incunabula Short Title Catalogue: