MEISTERLIN, Sigismund (circa 1435-1497) Lot n° 2

- Ein schöne Cronick und Hystoria, wye nach der Sündflusz Noae...Augsburg: Melchior Ramminger, 1522. Copy in contemporary half-binding of this rare illustrated edition of the "Augsburg Chronicle". In June 1456, Sigismund Meisterlin completed his Chronographia Augustensium. He then set about translating the text into German, completing it in 1457. Throughout his life, Meisterlin enjoyed the protection of several prelates, and even became a preacher himself. The first handwritten copies, and the continuations that were made of them, first and foremost inscribed the city's history in that of its bishops and abbots of Saint-Ulrich and Afra. "In 1522, the publisher Melchior Ramminger, who produced the first and only edition of Meisterlin's Augsburg chronicle, was a fanatical Lutheran who specialized in the production of violently anti-papist pamphlets. What was he going to do with Meisterlin's text?" (Moeglin, p. 382). He made numerous clean cuts, removing mentions of saints' relics and descriptions of miracles. The fine woodcuts illustrating the work are mostly inspired by miniatures found in manuscripts of the Chronicle (see, for example, Augsburg, Staats- und Stadtbibliothek, 2o Cod. Aug. 66, Nr. 26A.2.2.). The edition is not referenced in USTC. Worldcat lists only 7 copies in public institutions, all German. No copies referenced in CCFr. Moeglin Jean-Marie. "Les élites urbaines et l'histoire de leur ville en Allemagne (XIVe-XVe siècles)". In: Actes des congrès de la Société des historiens médiévistes de l'enseignement supérieur public, 27ᵉ congrès, Rome, 1996. Les élites urbaines au Moyen Âge. pp. 351-383; Graesse, II, p. 140. Chancery folio (270 x 190 mm) of 52 ff. Title in black and red with handsome woodcut framing, 2 full-page woodcuts (one matrix repeated), 9 woodcuts in the text (some matrices repeated), engraved framing to last 6 pages, composed of several rearranged blocks (worm work to inner margin of first quire). Stamped half sow skin on wooden boards (tail cover missing, remains of clasps). Provenance: in upper margin of title, handwritten bookplate: "Lib. est Imp Monasterii S.S. Udal. et Afrae Aug.ae Vindel." This is the monastery of Saint-Ulrich-et-Sainte-Afre in Augsburg, dissolved in 1802 - James de Rothschild (ex-libris). An attractive copy of this scarce illustrated edition of Meisterlin's chronicle of Augsburg, in contemporary half-binding. From the library of the former St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's monastery. To bid, please consult the "Sales information" section.