Caption: "Schedel, Nuremberg Chronicle, 'One of the miracles of 15th century book-making,' Incunabulum, Printed by Anton Koberger, Nuremberger, 1493. Dr. Hartman Schedel, the compiler of this Nuremberg Chronicle or Weltchronik, spent more time reading history than practicing medicine. Italian, English, and French chroniclers had treated German history rather slightingly; to correct this condition, Dr. Schedel persuaded two wealthy merchants of Nuremberg, Sebald Schreyder and Sebastian Kamermaister, to underwrite a new chronicle. The book holds great fascination for us, not for its text but for the lavish abundance of woodcuts. Two noted artists, Michael Wolgemut, the master of Albrecht Durer, and his stepson, William Pleydenwurff, were engaged to make the wood-cut illustrations. A total of 1809 pictures, made from 645 blocks, appear in the book with complete disregard for validity. Ninety-six blocks were used to portray 596 portraits, so that the portrait assigned to Nebuchadnezzar earlier appears later as several of the German emperors; the block for the town of Mainz does service also for Naples. The characters with elongated fingers and unkempt hair have been attributed to Wolgemut. The famous printer Anton Koberger, formerly a baker, established his first press about the year 1470, and continued to print and publish for more than fifty years. He employed, at various times, over one hundred workmen on his twenty-four presses as binders, illuminators, and artists. Koberger became the first wholesale printer and publisher. He exchanged his books with other printers over a wide area. The Nuremberg Chronicle was Koberger’s most successful venture. In the year 1493 two editions, one in Latin and one in German, appeared. These editions must have been large; over a hundred copies are now owned in America, four hundred and fifty years after they were issued.”
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