{"id":218,"date":"2025-10-20T14:54:59","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/?p=218"},"modified":"2025-10-20T14:54:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:54:59","slug":"unt-libraries-acquires-rare-first-edition-of-the-nuremberg-chronicle-one-of-the-most-ambitious-illustrated-books-of-the-15th-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/2025\/10\/20\/unt-libraries-acquires-rare-first-edition-of-the-nuremberg-chronicle-one-of-the-most-ambitious-illustrated-books-of-the-15th-century\/","title":{"rendered":"UNT Libraries Acquires Rare First Edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle, One of the Most Ambitious Illustrated Books of the 15th Century"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Partial world map showing Africa, Europe, and India as understood Europeans in the 15th century. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The University of North Texas Libraries is proud to announce the acquisition of a remarkable first edition of Liber Chronicarum cum Figuris et Ymaginibus ab initio Mundi<\/em>\u2014better known as the Nuremberg Chronicle<\/em><\/strong>\u2014printed on July 12, 1493, by Anton Koberger in Nuremberg, Germany. Widely regarded as one of the most celebrated and extensively illustrated incunables (books printed before 1501), the Chronicle<\/em> is a cornerstone in the history of printing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This exceptional copy survives in its original 15th-century binding, featuring the coat of arms of the city of Vienna. It retains wide margins, complete gatherings, and pristine condition with no restorations\u2014qualities rarely found together in surviving examples.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Cover of the Nuremberg Chronicle displaying the coat of arms of Vienna. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Often described as the first illustrated encyclopedia, the Nuremberg Chronicle<\/em> synthesizes classical, biblical, and medieval sources into a sweeping visual history of the world from Creation to the Last Judgment. Its author, Hartmann Schedel (1440\u20131514), was a physician, humanist, and book collector whose extensive library informed the text. The volume is richly illustrated with more than 1,800 woodcuts\u2014city views, genealogies, maps, portraits, and biblical scenes\u2014many reused throughout the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Printed by Anton Koberger, then Europe\u2019s largest printer, the Chronicle<\/em> was financed by Nuremberg merchants Sebald Schreyer and Sebastian Kammermeister. Their vision produced a massive folio of over 600 pages, issued in both Latin and German editions in the same year. This copy represents the Latin first edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View additional images of the Nuremberg Chronicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Nuremberg Chronicle<\/em> is housed in UNT Special Collections and available for viewing by appointment in the Judge Sarah T. Hughes Reading Room. For more information or to schedule a visit, please contact specialcollections@unt.edu<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The University of North Texas Libraries is proud to announce the acquisition of a remarkable first edition of Liber Chronicarum cum Figuris et Ymaginibus ab initio Mundi\u2014better known as the Nuremberg Chronicle\u2014printed on July 12, 1493, by Anton Koberger in Nuremberg, Germany. Widely regarded as one of the most celebrated and extensively illustrated incunables (books… Read more »<\/a>","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,7,5,6,4,10,9],"class_list":["post-218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-15th-century","tag-germany","tag-incunables","tag-incunabula","tag-rare-books","tag-special-collections","tag-woodcuts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions\/230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/special-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}