1493 – H. Schedel – CXVII

Titles: “CXVII” Description: A leaf from Hartmann Schedel’s Latin edition of the “Liber chronicarum,” published in Nuremberg in 1493, tracing the chaotic Severan dynasty on the recto and the circle of the theologian Origen on the verso. Folio CXVII opens with Caracalla (“Bassianus Antoninus Caracalla”), shown in the Chronicle’s “Linea Imperatorum,” recounting his murder of his co-ruling brother Geta, his great baths at Rome, and his own assassination during a Parthian campaign. Macrinus (“Macrinus Opilius”), the praetorian prefect who succeeded him, is paired with his young son and co-ruler Diadumenian (“Diadumenus”), described in the text as remarkably beautiful — tall, fair-haired, dark-eyed — before both were killed within the year; Clodius Albinus (“Albinus”), proclaimed emperor in Gaul, is noted alongside them. The page’s most notorious figure follows: Elagabalus (“M. Aurelius Antoninus Heliogabalus”), recounted here in vivid, unflattering detail — seating his mother in the Senate, creating a separate “senate of women,” and being killed by his own soldiers and thrown into the Tiber. The recto closes with the far more favorably treated Alexander Severus (“Alexander”), whose Christian mother Julia Mamaea and jurist-advisors Ulpian and Paulus are named, along with his private devotion to Christ (said to have kept a bust of Christ among his household gods) and his eventual murder by mutinous troops at Mainz. The verso is dominated by Origen of Alexandria (“Origenes”), with an extended account of his early religious zeal, his summons to instruct Julia Mamaea in Antioch, and the “Origenist” heresy later associated with his name. Around him are figures tied to Alexander’s court and Origen’s own circle: the jurist Ulpian (“Vlpianus”) and his colleague Paulus of Padua (“Paulus Patauus”), both credited as legal advisors to Alexander Severus; a philosopher named Julius Frontinus (“Julius frontinus”), described as another aide to the emperor; Minucius Felix (“Minutius felix”), the early Christian apologist remembered for his dialogue “Octavius”; Tryphon (“Tripho”), a student of Origen linked to a treatise on the Old Testament’s red heifer sacrifice; and a second, distinct Ambrosius (“Ambrosius”) — not St. Ambrose of Milan, but Origen’s wealthy patron, a former Marcionite convert who bankrolled his team of scribes and copyists. Page number: CXVII Worth knowing about the book itself: almost none of the portraits are individual likenesses — the same “generic ruler” and “generic pope” woodblocks get recycled again and again throughout the Chronicle for whichever figure is being discussed. And the red-ink initials and headings are rubrication, added by hand after printing, which is typical for surviving copies. The Nuremberg Chronicles was the first printed history of the known world with about 2000 woodcuts the most picturesque work of the early time of printing. It became one of the most popular books of the 15th. century. The woodblock cutters were Michael Wolgemut, teacher of Albrecht Dürer and his stepson Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. The printing was carried out under the supervision of the great scholar-printer Anton Koberger. Author: Hartmann Schedel (1440 – 1514) Sheet size: 43,3 x 31,3 cm Year: 1493 Technique: wood block Condition: In good condition. This is an original antique map published in 1493 and NOT a modern copy or reprint On your request I will provide a Certificate of Authenticity