Photo Credit: odetowhitman
Leaf Hortulus Animae Woodcut Wolfgang from Regensburg Border Nuremberg – 1519
Buy It Now Price: $65 (price as of 2016; item no longer available)
Pros:
-This is a 500 year old post-incunable woodcut print from the late medieval period. It comes from a religious text titled “Hortulus Animae cum Horis Beate Virginis” which roughly translates from the Latin as “Garden of the Soul with the Hours of the Blessed Virgin”.
-The book was published in the German city of Nuremberg in 1519 by Federici Peypus and Joannis Koberger. The leaf measures 17 cm (6.7 inches) tall by 10.5 cm (4.1 inches) wide and is printed in Latin, the lingua franca of the elites in medieval Europe.
-Incunable (or incunabula) is the period from the inception of European printing, when the Gutenberg Bible was published in 1454 AD, to an arbitrary end date of 1500 AD. The post-incunable era ran from 1500 to either 1520 or 1540, another arbitrary end date.
-This work was published in 1519, right at the end of the medieval period in Europe. The famous theologian, Martin Luther, had just nailed his anti-papacy Ninety-five Theses to the doors of Wittenberg Cathedral two years earlier, in 1517. This radical event precipitated the Protestant Reformation, one of the most transformative incidents in European history.
-The highlight of this late medieval woodcut print is a gothic-style image of Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg. He was a German saint from the 10th century who converted the Hungarians to Christianity and was then appointed bishop of Regensburg. This leaf also has a magnificent floral and grape vine border running around the entire page, which really adds to the work’s striking appearance.
-The black printing is very bold. The leaf also has separately printed reddish-orange text, a detail that gives the page some added color and eye appeal. These are both desirable attributes in early printed works.
-This woodcut leaf is in a wonderful state of preservation. There is no obvious foxing (brown spots), water stains or other damage visible. Also, the margins appear to be fully intact, with no signs of trimming.
-Incunable and post-incunable works are rare. Print runs typically varied from a couple thousand copies to no more than a few tens of thousands of copies at most. And attrition over the centuries means only a fraction of those original copies has survived. In light of this, as well as the leaf’s excellent condition, a $65 price tag is justified.
Cons:
-This woodcut print is a post-incunable impression from 1519. All else being equal, earlier incunable prints from before 1500 are more desirable and generally more valuable.
-This leaf is on the smaller side at 17 cm (6.7 inches) tall by 10.5 cm (4.1 inches) wide. Within reason, bigger is better with early woodcut prints and a size closer to that of a standard sheet of office paper (8.5 inches by 11 inches) would be more desirable.
-The woodcut illustration of Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg only occupies about 1/3 of the page. In some early prints, woodcut illustrations fill 1/2, 2/3 or even the entirety of the page. A larger illustration is more appealing than a smaller one.
