11

Sebastian Brant'sSebastian Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff

(1494, 3rd Latin ed. 1498)(1494, 3rd Latin ed. 1498)

at theat theUniversity of Manitoba:University of Manitoba:

Dysart Collection No. 22Dysart Collection No. 22

50th Anniversary Conference, UND Grand Forks, Fr 17 Oct. 2009 gd (rev. 26Feb2010)

22

UManitoba Dysart UManitoba Dysart CollectionCollection

University of Manitoba's Dysart Collection of Rare Books & Manuscripts contains 16 incunabula(=books published before 1500)

Only three are by non-German printers, only two are in German

The remaining fourteen are in Latin

33

UManitoba Dysart UManitoba Dysart CollectionCollection

Germany had no Renaissance to speak of, unlike Italy, France or England

But it did have a sort of printing monopoly during the first fifty years of Gutenberg's invention

Many printers working in Italy, France, or elsewhere, were also German

44

UManitoba Dysart UManitoba Dysart CollectionCollection

The recently expanded UM German Studies Programs allow to integrate the wider cultural context of the period

the Dysart incunabula are therefore recognized as a valuable bibliographic resource on the German Studies Reference webpage

55

UM German Studies UM German Studies Reference Reference

66

UManitoba Dysart UManitoba Dysart CollectionCollection

An e-Edition of a 1973 Dysart Collection Exhibition Catalogue is in preparation

It will link the 16 incunabula, along with 9 medieval manuscripts, to other rare book collections in North America and abroad

77

UManitoba Dysart UManitoba Dysart CollectionCollection

88

Brant's Brant's Das NarrenschiffDas Narrenschiff Sebastian Brant's Book was

published in Basel by Johann Bergmann in 1494

This printer's Motto was: "Nihil Sine Causa" (=nothing without cause)

Among other notable editions were:– the 1493 Report of Columbus' Discovery– 1492 & 1495 Broadsides about a Meteor

impact & a Flood in Rome Brant was involved in all of these

99

About BergmannAbout Bergmann

Johann Bergmann von Olpe (ca. 1455-1532) was a prolific printer & priest

He was responsible for some of the most "avant-garde" publications of his times, like the ones mentioned above

Besides the German & Latin editions of the Narrenschiff, he printed works by other humanists like Locher, Reuchlin, & Wimpfeling

1493, M. vom Stein's Ritter vom Turn appeared [a transl. of LaTour Landry's Livre du chevalier, 14th c.]

1010

Bergmann's Motto, 1497/8Bergmann's Motto, 1497/8

1111

Columbus’ ReportColumbus’ Report

Columbus sensational discovery included “Gold & nackte Leut” (Gold & Naked People)

It was not clear which was more amazing

To judge by the cover, it was the latter

1212

Columbus' Report: CoverColumbus' Report: Cover(Basel: Bergmann, 1493)(Basel: Bergmann, 1493)

1313

Broadside on Ensisheim Broadside on Ensisheim MeteorMeteorD e   f u l g e t r a   a n n i   1 4 9 2

V o m   D o n n e r s t e i n   d e s   J a h r e s   1 4 9 2

Latin & German

NOTE: Ensisheim was an important administrative Centre of Emperor Maximilian's Court

1414

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff I I (1494)(1494)

Brant's moral satire in 112 rhymed chapters was an instant bestseller

He used the Fool's topic for didactic reasons, criticizing universal human vices & foibles (including the seven deadly sins)

His intent was to lead the sinners back onto the correct path of Christian moral philosophy (mostly Patristic: he had edited St. Augustin & Ambrosius with

Basel printer Amerbach in 1494 & 1492)

1515

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff II II (1494)(1494)

Each chapter was preceded by an illustration and a motto

This allows the new print medium to exploit an intricate and effective combination of image and text

The majority of the 117 woodcuts are by Albrecht Dürer, the best known "Northern Renaissance" artist

1616

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (Chapter 13: Of Wooing)(Chapter 13: Of Wooing)

XIII. Von buolschafft. An mynem seyl ich draffter yeichVil narren / affen / esel / geüchDie ich verfűr betrüg vnd leych

NOTE:Seductive Venus is "joined at the hip" with Death -- a reference to the Syphilis that was introduced by Columbus' sailors in 1493, & had become a rampant epidemic by 1498. -- There even is a monk amongst her many victims!

The theme of Love & Death takes on contemporary significance:AIDS is the obvious equivalent 500 years later…

1717

Sebastian Brant (1457-Sebastian Brant (1457-1521)1521)

1818

Albrecht DAlbrecht Dürürer (1471-er (1471-1528)1528)

1919

About Brant IAbout Brant I

Brant (1457–1521) studied and taught law and poetry in Basel for many years

He was an arch-conservative humanist, utterly pious & patriotic

But: ironically, his outspoken criticism against certain abuses of the Church helped prepare the ground for the protestant reformation

2020

About BrantAbout Brant IIII

Brant's contribution to the double-layered German & Latin cultural context of his times is considerable

He was author, editor, translator & "lector" to Basel printers & producers like Amerbach, Furter, Froben & Petri, besides Bergmann

2121

About BrantAbout Brant IIIIII He was equally skilled in writing

Latin & German poetry & legal texts He edited the Church Fathers

Augustin, Hieronymus & Ambrosius, but also Petrarch, Columbus' 1493 Report, & Broadsides

These were presented as ominous signs of Divine Wrath: Floods, Meteor impacts, etc. (related to St. John's apocalyptic Revelations)

2222

Success of Brant's Success of Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff I I

The great popularity of the book was partly due to the fact that it explicitly addressed ALL classes & both genders

Brant considered the illustrations as "servants to the ignorant" & quite subordinate to his text

But Dürer's woodcuts were a decisive factor in this book's overwhelming success when it was translated into numerous languages

2323

Success of Brant's Success of Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff II II

Brant's 1494 book was one of the first printed texts in German [Dante & Petrarch had written in Italian 200 years earlier, but printed eds. only appeared around 1500]

Along with Martin Luther's German Bible (1534), the Narrenschiff helped mold early German "neuhochdeutsch"

However, Luther's German is far more intelligible for today's readers than Brant's Allemanic dialect

2424

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (Title, (Title, 1494)1494)

2525

Luther's Bible, 1534Luther's Bible, 1534

2626

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (e-Ed, (e-Ed, 1494)1494)A beautiful e-Edition can be found in the impressive Bibiotheca Augustana

2727

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (Contents, (Contents, 1494)1494)

Here part of the Bibiotheca Augustana e-Ed. Contents

2828

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (The End,(The End, 1499)1499)

2929

About LocherAbout Locher Jakob "Philomusus" Locher (1471–1528)

had been Brant's student in Basel Unlike his mentor, who was 14 years

older, he had been to Italy & was far less conservative

Emperor Maximilian I crowned him, Poeta Laureatus in 1497 for his plays, hymns & elegies

Locher is also known for fiery anti-scholastic polemics, & for providing the 1st Latin edition of Horace in Germany

3030

Locher's Locher's Stultifera NavisStultifera Navis II

(1497/8)(1497/8)

Locher's free Latin translation was published, also by Bergmann, with the title Stultifera Navis

There are three printings: March & August 1497, & March 1498

Dysart Collection 22 is of the 3rd printing, & the only one to contain a new Latin text by Brant

3131

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (Latin)(Latin)

(Web Catalogue Entry of Dysart 22, March (Web Catalogue Entry of Dysart 22, March 1498 ed.)1498 ed.)

3232

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (Latin)(Latin)

(Dysart 22: Title Page, 3rd Printing, March 1498)(Dysart 22: Title Page, 3rd Printing, March 1498)

3333

Locher's Locher's Stultifera Navis Stultifera Navis IIII(1497/8)(1497/8)

Unlike Brant's German original, the Latin text meant to address only the educated

This included few notable women In several introductory texts in

verse and prose, Locher explains the reasons for his undertaking:– Fools are in abundance everywhere– Brant's German book would be useless

to many without Locher's Latin version

3434

Locher's Locher's Stultifera Navis Stultifera Navis IIIIII

(1497/8)(1497/8)

Locher further justifies his translation by pointing to Dante and Petrarch

Both had been rendered in Latin, the latter as recently as 1496 by Brant

He follows Brant's text closely enough But: Brant tends to use classical texts

compatible with Christian writings, & accords them a rather subservient role

3535

Locher's Locher's Stultifera Navis Stultifera Navis IVIV

(1497/8)(1497/8) Locher makes much more liberal use

of classical, "pagan" sources He also tends to blend them &

religious references into complex, colourful images

And he lacks Brant's primary didactic zeal, so that pious exhortations come out lame, or are omitted altogether

3636

Locher's Locher's Stultifera NavisStultifera Navis VV

(1497/8)(1497/8)

Some of Brant's chapters were limited to local customs & could not be easily translated

In those cases, Locher fell back on the classics to bemoan corrupt times in general

In Chap.4, Brant finds contemporary fashion too revealing [even the navel!]

3737

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (Chapter 4: Of New Ways)(Chapter 4: Of New Ways)

V. Von nuwen funden Wer vil nüw fünd macht durch die landDer gibt vil ærgernyß vnd schandVnd halt den narren by der hand

3838

Locher also changes Brant's "damn the German nation" to a more timeless & universal "O mores hominum, corrupta o tempora, et atra" borrowed from Cicero ["oh, the bad ways of mankind, oh what sinful & dark times"]

With these culturally neutral adjustments, Brant's Narrenschiff in Locher's Latin version was ready to be launched internationally

Locher's Locher's Stultifera NavisStultifera Navis VI VI(1497/8)(1497/8)

3939

Locher's Locher's Stultifera Navis Stultifera Navis VIIVII

(1497/8)(1497/8) Brant reviewed Locher's work & reintroduced the lacking proper path to Christian "Sapientia" with many marginal notes in the 1st 1497 printing

He further expanded these in the 2nd 1497 printing, & added more marginal texts of the illustrations

The 3d printing (March 1498) remained basically unchanged from the 2nd, but…

4040

ONLY this 1498 edition contains Brant's "Nova Inventio" De corrupto ordine vivendi… [Of Corrupt Ways of Living]

It has apocalyptic overtones akin to Dürer'ss 1497/98 woodcuts of St. John's Revelation

Brant's Narrenschiff in Locher's Latin versions of was an instant hit & soon spawned many translations, including Alexander Barclay's Ship of Fools (1509)

Locher's Locher's Stultifera NavisStultifera Navis VIIIVIII

(1497/8)(1497/8)

4141

Influence of Influence of Stultifera Navis Stultifera Navis II

(1497/8)(1497/8) In German-speaking countries, there were inspired sermons of Geiler von Kaysersberg (1445 bis 1510)

Equally important were satires by the Franciscan monk Thomas Murner (1475-1537)

His 1511/12 Schelmenzunft surpasses Brant in wit, as does his Narrenbeschwörung

Murner became well-known as a bitter rival of Luther & Zwingli after 1520

He was well-received in 1523 by Henry VIII, whose book on sacraments he had published in German a year earlier

4242

Thomas Murner

4343

Thomas Murner's Narrenbeschwörung

(1511/12)

4444

Influence of Influence of Stultifera Navis Stultifera Navis IIII

(1497/8)(1497/8)

One particularly noteworthy influence is The Praise of Folly by Erasmus

Written in 1509, it was published in 1515, & has at least one of its sources in common with the Narrenschiff:

Lucian (ca. 125-180 A.D.) who was widely read by educated Humanists– He also inspired satirists like Rabelais, Grimmelshausen,

Molière, Swift, Cervantes, Voltaire, & even down to Brecht

4545

Erasmus, by Holbein, 1523

4646

Erasmus' Praise of Folly(Latin ed., Basel: Frobenius, 1515)

4747

About DAbout Düürer Irer I

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) w was in Basel in 1492 & 1494 as a journeyman

His ca. 80 of 117 woodcuts for Brant's book in the Latin eds. were likely his first professional assignment

He is believed to have collaborated closely with the author to match the moralistic text

4848

About DAbout Düürer IIrer II

A good example is the allegorical Venus already mentioned: in a pictorial translation of the text, she has Death under her left wing, she is led by a blind-folded Cupid, and she ensnares many, even a monk, in her seductive ropes

It is the eternal topic of "Love & Death", "Eros & Thanatos"

4949

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (XXIIII. De Amore Venereo)(XXIIII. De Amore Venereo)

5050

DDüürer's Brant rer's Brant IllustrationsIllustrations

Brant seems to have been somewhat of a misogynist

To judge by some of his chapters, he considers women vain, pleasure-seeking, unfaithful, conniving, etc.

Other topics are stereotypical Renaissance adaptations of the classics, such as the Wheel of Fortune

5151

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (About Women: Vanity)(About Women: Vanity)

5252

Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (About Fortune: Von Gl(About Fortune: Von Glückes Fallückes Fall))

5353

About DAbout Düürerrer IIIIII An especially intriguing illustration

is the last of 117: it is unique to the 1498 edition of Dysart 22

It appears on leaf CXLV as a full Title-Page to Brant's new concluding text: De corrupto ordine vivendi pereuntibus [Those who will perish from their corrupt ways of living]

The upper left-hand corner shows a square horoscope for Oct. 2, 1503, at 9 p.m.

5454

Brant's Brant's De corrupto ordine vivendi…

The intriguing illustration 117 & Brant's "new text" are unique to Locher's 3rd printing (1498, Dysart 22)

However, De corrupto ordine vivendi… appears simultaneously, also with Bergmann von Olpe's imprint, somewhere in the middle of Brant's Varia Carmina (1498)

No title-page, & smaller chapter captions are used in this short World Chronicle

5555

Brant's Narrenschiff (1498 Latin ed., ill. 117: Title-Page to "Of Corrupt Ways of

Living")

5656

About DAbout Düürerrer IVIV

This astrological prediction five years ahead of time may be related to one of the many "Weltuntergang" predictions

Brant's Broadsides about the Flood of Rome & the Ensisheim "Donnerstein" Meteor in the early 1490s were similarly propagated as warnings

Dürer had witnessed them while in the area as a young journeyman

5757

About DAbout Düürerrer VV

In 1497/8, when Dürer provided this particular image, he was engaged in a series of 16 large apocalyptic woodcuts about St. John's Revelation

Though in Nürnberg then, his godfather Koberger's extensive trade connections and his own relations with the Rhenian Humanists make his collaboration likely

5858

Dürer's Acopalypse s Acopalypse (1497/98)(1497/98)

5959

Brant & DBrant & Düürerrer 500 Years 500 Years laterlater

The impact of Gutenberg's invention of the printing press has rightly been compared to the present-day electronic revolution

Brant's & Dürer's Love & Death theme can easily linked to AIDS in our times

And doomsday predictions for the year 2012 abound, fuelled by natural disasters like earthquakes & tsunamis

6060

ReferencesReferences

University of Manitoba, Dysart Collection of Rare Books & Manuscripts, Exhibition Catalogue, 1973 (e-Edition in progress)

UM, Dafoe Reference Internet Resources [ongoing] UMannheim, Facsim-Ed., Columbus. Epistola de

insulis nuper inventis. Basel: Johann Bergmann von Olpe, 1494 [36 p., 6 ills].

University of Houston, Special Colls: ills. of 1498 ed.– http://info.lib.uh.edu/sca/digital/ship/

BIBLIOTHECA AUGUSTANA: German Text & ills., 1494– http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/germanica/Chronologie/

15Jh/Brant/