1 sebastian brant's narrenschiff (1494, 3rd latin ed. 1498) at the university of manitoba:...
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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
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UManitoba Dysart UManitoba Dysart CollectionCollection
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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.]
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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
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Columbus' Report: CoverColumbus' Report: Cover(Basel: Bergmann, 1493)(Basel: Bergmann, 1493)
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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
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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)
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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
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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
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Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (Title, (Title, 1494)1494)
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Luther's Bible, 1534Luther's Bible, 1534
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Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (e-Ed, (e-Ed, 1494)1494)A beautiful e-Edition can be found in the impressive Bibiotheca Augustana
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Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (Contents, (Contents, 1494)1494)
Here part of the Bibiotheca Augustana e-Ed. Contents
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Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (The End,(The End, 1499)1499)
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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
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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
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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.)
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Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (Latin)(Latin)
(Dysart 22: Title Page, 3rd Printing, March 1498)(Dysart 22: Title Page, 3rd Printing, March 1498)
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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
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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
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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
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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!]
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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
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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)
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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…
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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)
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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
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Thomas Murner
4343
Thomas Murner's Narrenbeschwörung
(1511/12)
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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
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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)
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Brant's Brant's NarrenschiffNarrenschiff (About Fortune: Von Gl(About Fortune: Von Glückes Fallückes Fall))
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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")
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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
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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/
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