This is a city view woodcut of the city of Magdeburg from the Nuremberg Chronicle, an incunable, or early printed book, published in 1493 that describes the history of the world along with geographical information about European and Middle Eastern countries and towns. The book was the collective work of a group of humanists from Nuremburg: it was mainly written by Hartman Schedel and illustrated with woodcuts made in the studio of Michael Wolgemut. It is the most extensively illustrated book of the 15th century, combining type and woodcuts on the same page for the first time. This chronicle contains two different kinds of city views, one page views that are more fantastical, and realistic two-page spreads that are based on observation. This illustration of Magdeburg is one of the thirty-two realistic town views included in the incunable. This illustration covers the bottom half of a two-page spread below German text. The woodcut itself depicts the city of Magdeburg spreading up from the banks of the river Elbe on which it sits. A large ship sits in the water, as well as a mill with two wheels and two figures on docks. Turreted walls surround the city at the water’s edge. Behind it, each building has been rendered with careful detail, including landmarks of the city such as several gothic churches, a statue, and buildings with towers. These landmarks seem to have been highlighted because of their slightly larger than realistic size. In the background beyond the buildings a pastoral area is visible. There is some damage along the middle of the spread where the two pages meet, but the woodcut is in otherwise good condition. (Astrid Steiner-Manning ‘22)
Peter H. Meurer, “Cartography in the German Lands, 1450-1650.” In The History of Cartography Vol. 3, edited by David Woodward, 1193-1194. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Nuvoloni, Laura. “Nuremburg Chronicles” University of Cambridge Digital Library, Treasures of the Library. Accessed April 23, 2021, https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PR-INC-00000-A-00007-00002-00888/404.
Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
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Special Collections (Flat Files) ; G5700 1400-1800 Map 01