Block book

A block book (even woodcut book) is a printed from woodblocks work in image and text (see block print ). A distinction chiroxylographische ( picture of wood floor printed text manually added later),, xylographic ( images and text are both from the same wood floor) and typoxylographische ( pictures on wooden sticks, texts set in types) block books that can not always be separated clearly ( see Figure ). These forms of book block, which were common in Europe, are slightly different from the Asian form of the block book. The dating of the European form extends to the 15th century, some scientists it is set to 1420 by Gutenberg before the development of the art of printing, others argue for a later date. They went out to 1530th The Asian forms are much older.

Early Asian blockbooks

Since the Tang Dynasty ( 615-906 ) Block books were produced in wood block printing in China. The Diamond Sutra, which consists of six pages with small half-page woodcuts, was founded in 868

Block Books in Central Europe

From the European form today are 33 works, mostly religious devotional literature, in over 100 different editions known ( see also Einblattholzschnitt and woodcut). As the home of the block books the Netherlands and the Upper Rhine (Basel, perhaps Strasbourg) apply. It should be read in conjunction with the other efforts of the 15th century to make books as efficiently as possible and inexpensive. For their preparation was the driver, not the press, and there is consequently deeply impressed upon the type of picture in the paper, so you latter printed only on one side and glued the white remaining sides together ( anopistographische prints). It shares the block in such books with text only, in those with text and image on the same page and in those with text and images on separate pages. Their content was partly religious, partly dogmatic and moral- didactic nature. They contained pictorial representations from the Old and New Testament, which were compared with each other and as a so-called concordance formed, further representations of the Ten Commandments, of the life of Mary and the Saviour, the Revelation of John, the history of certain saints, the Apostles' Creed, the Ars moriendi and the Ars memorandi. Block books for the profane use contained fables with moral practical application, the Totentanz, the chiromancy, the marvels of Rome and the like. The oldest were printed in Germany and the Netherlands, where the miniatures of the manuscripts served as role models.