FRIDOLIN, Stephan (d.1498) - photo 1
FRIDOLIN, Stephan (d.1498) - photo 2
FRIDOLIN, Stephan (d.1498) - photo 3
FRIDOLIN, Stephan (d.1498) - photo 4

FRIDOLIN, Stephan (d.1498)

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£ 47 880
Auction dateClassic
14.12.2022 10:30UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
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ID 870741
Lot 111 | FRIDOLIN, Stephan (d.1498)
FRIDOLIN, Stephan (d.1498)

Schatzbehalter der wahren Reichtümer des Heils. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 8 November 1491.

First and only edition of one of the most celebrated illustrated incunables, bound and illuminated by a contemporary Nuremberg workshop associated with the Koberger printing office. The powerful woodcuts by the workshop of Michael Wolgemut and Michael Pleydenwurff are believed to have made a significant impact on Albrecht Dürer and influenced directly his own monumental work in woodcut (Nuremberg 1971 cat., no 115). He had been apprenticed to the Wolgemut-Pleydenwurff workshop from 1486-89, and returned to Nuremberg from Basel soon after publication of the Schatzbehalter.



The Schatzbehalter was written by Stephan Fridolin, spiritual guide and confessor to the Poor Clares at Nuremberg, almost certainly at the behest of the nuns and their abbess, Caritas Pirckheimer, sister to Willibald. The text is based on Scripture and tells the story of the life and passion of Christ in 100 events; the accompanying illustrations were intended to impress the story more firmly on the minds of the audience, specifically those unable to read, as Fridolin states in the preface. It thus joins other late medieval works popularizing Scripture in text and image, such as the blockbook Biblia Pauperum. In his discussion of each woodcut, Fridolin explains the literal and metaphysical meaning of the image, thus giving the modern reader an invaluable insight into medieval interpretation of imagery. HC *14507 = H 6236; GW 10329; BMC II, 434 (IB. 7413-7414); BSB-Ink. F-263; Bod-Inc. F-107; IGI 9165; Schreiber 5202; Arnim/Schaefer, 134; Goff S-306.



Median folio (328 x 228mm). 353 leaves (of 354, without the final blank). 40 lines and headline, double column. 11-line illuminated initial opening text on a4v, other initials in red and blue, 96 full-page woodcuts from 91 blocks by Michael Wolgemut, Michael Pleydenwurff and their workshop, woodcut Hebrew letters on d4r, rubricated (occasional mostly marginal staining to lower outer corners, minor worming from upper board and pastedown into lower margin of first 5 leaves, tiny hole affecting a few letters on q6). Contemporary Nuremberg binding of blindstamped calf over wooden boards by the ‘Schedel-Meister’ [EBDB w000298, Kyriss workshop 112], titled stamped in blind on upper cover ‘SCHATZBEHALT’ D’ EWIGE SELIGKEIT’, embossed metal centre- and corner-pieces, two fore-edge clasps and catches (rebacked, contemporary repairs to sides). Provenance: early ink hatching to upper area of woodcut on n2r – religious rhyming couple in an early German hand on q6r – J.R. Ritman (Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, Amsterdam, bookplate; sale Sotheby's, 6 December 2000, lot 9, £135,250 including buyer’s premium); housed in a custom modern box.





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