Showing 158 results

Archival description
Early print collection
Print preview Hierarchy View:

105 results with digital objects Show results with digital objects

Leaf from the Nuremberg Chronicle

Recto of leaf (folio CCLXVIII) features a large woodcut illustration of a city in Hungary, and the verso features a large illuminated initial and paraphs in red and blue.

Calendar

Calendar for part of August and September with golden numbers, dominical letters, and feast days.

Gospel sequences - Saint John

B2 verso. Features a historiated metalcut border of Saint John holding a poisoned cup with a dead man at his feet, from an apocryphal tale in which Saint John is challenged by Aristodemus, the pagan chief priest of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, to drink a cup of poison in order to prove his faith.

A Booke of Christian Prayers leaf

Item is a leaf from A Booke of Christian Prayers (commonly known as Queen Elizabeth's Prayer Book as it was reputedly designed for her private use), a collection of private devotions and prayers published by in London by Richard Day. The leaf (folio 115) contains part of a prayer and is illustrated with woodcut borders of memento mori (including gravediggers' shovels, skeletons, the aged and infirm, and bodies in tombs) and the Dance of Death.

The Woorkes of Geffrey Chaucer leaf

Item is a leaf (folio 3) from "The Knightes Tale" from The Woorkes of Geffrey Chaucer, Newly Printed, edited by John Stowe and printed in London by John Kyngston for John Wight.

Biblia Latina leaf

Item is a leaf from a Biblia Latina printed by J. Sacon of Lyon for Anton Koberger of Nuremberg. Leaf contains verses 19:6-24:4 of the Book of Ecclesiastes and features a large woodcut of its translation from the original Hebrew to Greek. A partial transcription of the leaf reads:

Beginning with "Qui peccat": "He that sinneth against his own soul, shall repent... hast thou heard a word against thy neighbor? Let it die within thee... a wise man will hold his peace til he see opportunity: but a babbler, and a fool, will regard no time... a man wise in words shall make himself beloved: but the graces of fools shall be poured out... he that keepeth justice shall get the understanding thereof. The perfection of the fear of God is wisdom and understanding..."

Golden Legend leaves

File contains five leaves from Wynkyn de Worde's English edition of the Golden Legend (Legenda aurea), Jacobus de Voragine's popular collection of hagiographies, or the lives, deeds, and martyrdoms of the saints. De Worde was a famous early English printer and an apprentice and later successor to England's most famous printer, William Caxton. Most leaves relate to the lives of English saints. Some leaves are illustrated with woodcuts, and a number have been expurgated, with references to the pope, certain saints, and illustrations deliberately crossed out, likely reflecting changing attitudes to the papacy and the cult of saints during the English Reformation.

German book cover

Item is a detached cover of a 16th century book, likely of south German origin. The cover is made of wood and blind-tooled leather (with numerous bookworm holes), and features decorative brass corners and a central boss.

Theuerdank leaf

Item is a leaf from the Theuerdank, a chivalric poem composed by the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I (1459-1519). Written in the form of an epic romance, the Theuerdank is a fictionalized account of Maximilian's own journey to marry Mary of Burgundy in 1477, and is full of allegorical allusions.

The leaf features text in an early fraktur typeface with seperately printed flourishes, and a woodcut illustration of the knight Theuerdank ('Noble Thought,' who represents Maximilian) and a companion climbing a cliff to finish one of the tasks he must complete to win the hand of Ernreich ('Rich in Honour' - Mary). At the foot of the cliff are Theuerdank's faithful squire Ernhold ('Steadfastly Honoured,' wearing a tunic depicting a wheel of fortune) and Fürwittig ('Over-confident'), one of three villains that try to prevent Theuerdank from reaching his bride.

Ship of Fools leaf

Item is an illustrated leaf (folio 114) from a Latin edition of The Ship of Fools, a satirical allegory in verse by Sebastian Brant, printed by Jacobus Sacon in Lyon. The leaf features a section of the chapter "Of Blowing Into Ears" and a woodcut of a fool blowing into the ear of another. A partial translation of the leaf reads:

A fool who puts into his head
And credits things that men have said,
He is a dunce that merits jeers,
With sensitive and spacious ears.
All honesty those persons lack
Who would assail behind one's back
And strike without e'er warning hum,
With chances of fending very slim.

Lives of the Saints leaf

Item is a leaf (folio 192) from Catalogus Sanctorum et Gestorum Eorum (A Catalogue of Saints and their Acts), a collection of saints' lives by Petrus de Natalibus, printed in Leiden by John Thomas. This leaf includes hagiographies of Catholic saints and martyrs, each preceded by a small woodcut illustration, including: Pope Pelagius I; the Spanish martyrs George, Aurelius, Natalia, and Felix; Anastasias of Persia; and the prophet Daniel (depicted in the lions' den).

Hagiographies, collections of semi-fictional stories of the lives of Christian saints, were immensely popular in medieval Europe. The Catalogus Sanctorum was originally published in 12 volumes and went through a number of editions.

Garden of Health leaves

File contains two leaves illustrated with woodcuts from the Hortus Sanitatis (Garden of Health) printed in Strasbourg by Johann Pruss. One leaf is from the second section "De Animalibus" (Of Animals) featuring articles about water snakes, field crickets, and hedgehogs, and hyenas. The other leaf contains the prologue of the third section "De Avibus" (Of Birds) and articles about eagles, peacocks, and falcons.

The Hortus Sanitatis is a comprehensive natural history encylopedia that contains descriptions of animals, plants, fish, birds, and minerals, including their medical uses or curative properties. Originally published by Jacob Meydenbach in 1491, the Hortus Sanitatis proved very popular and was printed in many editions in various languages.

The Temptation of St. Anthony

Item is a single leaf etched print created by French artist, Jacques Callot, a master printmaker of the Baroque period. The engraving depicts St. Anthony being tempted and tortured in the Egyptian dessert by the devil and a host of demons. The devil, in the form of a monstrous dragon directs the chaos, while St. Anthony cowers near the mouth of a cave in the bottom left corner. Originally created in 1635, this version of the print is Callot's second attempt at capturing the temptation of St. Anthony.

Vestigii delle Terme di Constantino...

Item is an etching by the artist Etienne Duperac, depicting the south-west side of the Baths of Constantine. The Baths of Constantine were destroyed and replaced with the Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi.

Plantin Antwerp Polyglot Bible

Item is a leaf from the Book of Samuel taken from the Plantin Antwerp Polyglot Bible. The Plantin Polyglot, also known as the King's Bible, was printed by Christopher Plantin and supervised by the Spanish theologian, Benito Arias Montano. The work translated the Bible into five languages: Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Aramaic, and Syriac.

Galenus de ossibus ; De usu partium corporis humani

Item contains two medical texts written by the ancient Greek physician Galen bounded into one volume. The first work, Galenus de ossibus (On bones for beginners), was translated by the Italian physician and humanist Ferdinando Balami was published in 1549. The second book, De usu partium corporis humani (On the use of the parts of the human body) was translated by the Italian scientist Niccolo da Reggio was published in 1550.

Item has a German pigskin binding. The front cover has an impression of a personification of Justice, and an impression of on the legendary Roman woman Lucrece on the back cover.

Attack on Jinzhou Fortress

Item is a Japanese triptych of senso-e prints, created by Kokunimasa, depicting events from the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895).

Gassho Dojikun [combined book of children's textbook]

Item is an illustrated textbook for children from Edo Period, created by Suaraya Gensuke and six other authors. The textbook covers a wide range of topics and subjects including moral teachings, historical events, times tables, geography, reading, math, and defines important relationships such as those between a feudal lord and followers, father/son, husband/wife, and parents/children etc.

Folio 164

Item is folio 164, the recto titled "The tra[n]slacyon of Saynt Thomas of Ca[n]terbury" (The translation [or movement of the relics] of Saint Thomas of Canterbury), and the verso titled "The lyfe of Saynt Kenelme kynge & martyr" (The life of Saint Kenelm, king & martyr). The leaf is expurgated, with the title of the recto crossed out and the two columns of text on recto obscured with large x's.

Saint Thomas Becket was a 12th century Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered after a dispute with King Henry II of England over the rights of the Church. He was canonized and his shrine at Canterbury was a major pilgrimage site until its suppression by Henry VIII. Saint Kenelm was a legendary murdered boy king of Mercia.

Folio 165

Item is folio 165, titled "The lyfe of Saynt Kenelme kynge & martyr" (The life of Saint Kenelm, king & martyr), although the verso also includes the introduction to The lyfe of Saynt Margarete (The life of Saint Margaret). The text is expurgated, with the word "pope" crossed out 5 times on the verso. Saint Kenelm was a legendary murdered boy king of Mercia, and Saint Margaret the Virgin was a legendary martyr.

Title page and frontispiece

A1 recto. Features overpainted metalcut depicting Germain Hardouyn’s printer’s device, two putti holding a shield hanging from a tree (adapted from the emblem of the Parisian printer Guillaume Eustace). Inscription reads: Hore beate marie virginis s[e]c[un]d[u]m usum e // cclesie romane totaliter ad longum cum mul // tis suffragiis et orationibus. (Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary according to the use of the Roman Church, complete and at length with many suffrages and prayers.)

Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Lauds

D7 recto. Features an overpainted metalcut of Augustus and the Tiburtine Sybil. The Roman emperor consults the prophetess, who reveals a celestial vision of the Virgin and Child, while a young man looks on. According to medieval legend, when Augustus consulted the Sibyl about whether he should accept apotheosis (recognition as a god after his death), she prophesied the coming of Christ and revealed a vision of the Virgin and Child on the site of the future Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome.

Gospel sequences - Saint John

B2 verso. Features an overpainted metalcut of Saint John the Evangelist on the island of Patmos with a vision of the Virgin and Child in the sky. John has his gospel on his lap and is accompanied by an eagle, his evangelist symbol.

Penitential psalms

H7 verso. Overpainted metalcut of King David repenting. A kneeling David prays for forgiveness outside the walls of Jerusalem with two bodies at his feet, while an angel descends bearing a sword and arrow, symbols of war.

Kreuterbuch leaf

Item is a leaf (folio 386) from the first illustrated edition of Hieronymus Bock's New Kreuterbuch von Underscheidt, Würckung und Namen der Kreuter, so in teutschen Landen wachsen (New plant book of differences, effects, and names of plants that grow in German lands), a herbal (a book describing the properties and uses of plants) printed in Strasbourg by Wendel Riehel. The leaf features a woodblock illustration designed by David Kandel of an apple tree with a serpent and Adam's skull and leg bone, referencing the Book of Genesis.

The Kreuterbuch is notable because Bock chose to classify the 700 plants he covered according to their observed characteristics, an innovation that anticipated modern botany, whereas earlier herbals had categorized plants according to Classical Greek systems.

Caspar Sasgerus minorita De cultu & ueneratione sanctorum

Item is a Reformation-era theological pamphlet entitled "On the worship & veneration of the saints" by Kaspar Schatzgeyer (1463-1527), a Catholic Franciscan teacher and biblical scholar from Bavaria who strongly defended Catholic tradition while adopting a conciliatory approach to Martin Luther's reforms.

Aeneis Virgiliana leaf - Liber II, CV-CVI

Item is a leaf from book two of Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid printed by Jean Crespin in 1529. The recto features a large woodcut of the Greeks exiting the Trojan horse and preparing to attack Troy from within. The verso contains lines 250-267 surrounded by commentary by J. Badius Ascensius.

Kinka Shichihenge [Seven transformations of the golden flowers] - vols 17-20

Item is four volumes (17-20) of the Kinka Shichihenge, or Seven Transformations of the Golden Flower, manga series bound together. This manga series was published by Kinshodo towards the end of the Edo Period (1603-1867), and contains woodblock illustrations by the famous illustrator, Utagawa Kunisada. The plot centers around evil cat spirits, called nekomata, that cause problems for the human characters.

Folio 104

Item is folio 104, the recto titled "The lyfe of Saynt Cuthberd" (The life of Saint Cuthbert), and the verso titled "The annunciation of our lady." The verso features a small woodcut illustration of the Angel Gabriel greeting Mary at the Annunciation, which appears to have been deliberately obscured with ink, now faded. Saint Cuthbert was a 7th century Anglo-Saxon bishop and hermit from Northumbria.

Folio 127

Item is folio 127, titled "The lyfe of Saynt Austyn" (The life of Saint Austin), although the recto also contains the end of "The lyfe of Saynt Dunston" (The life of Saint Dunstan). The leaf has been expurgated, with the word "pope" crossed out six times on the recto, and once on the verso.

Saint Austin, more commonly called Saint Augustine of Canterbury, is considered a founder of the English Church due to his missionary work in England in the 6th century, and was also the first Archbishop of Canterbury.

Results 1 to 100 of 158