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Sebastian Brant's Narrenschiff (1494, Latin 1497/8) at the University of Manitoba: Dysart Collection No. 22

Sebastian Brant's Narrenschiff (1494, Latin 1497/8) at the University of Manitoba: Dysart Collection No. 22. 50th Anniversary Conference, UND Grand Forks, Fr 17 Oct. 2009 gd.

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Sebastian Brant's Narrenschiff (1494, Latin 1497/8) at the University of Manitoba: Dysart Collection No. 22

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  1. Sebastian Brant'sNarrenschiff(1494, Latin 1497/8)at theUniversity of Manitoba:Dysart Collection No. 22 50th Anniversary Conference, UND Grand Forks, Fr 17 Oct. 2009 gd

  2. University of Manitoba's Dysart Collection of Rare Books & Manuscripts contains 16 incunabula, or books published before 1500 Only three are by non-German printers, only two are in German The remaining fourteen are in Latin UManitoba Dysart Collection

  3. 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 or France were also German UManitoba Dysart Collection

  4. The recently expanded UM German Studies Programs allow tointegrate the wider cultural context of the period the Dysart incunabula are therefore recognized as a valuable bibliographic resource on the German Studies Reference webpage UManitoba Dysart Collection

  5. UM German Studies Reference

  6. 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 UManitoba Dysart Collection

  7. UManitoba Dysart Collection

  8. Sebastian Brant's Book was published in Basel by Johann Bergmann von Olpein 1494 This printer's Motto was: "Nihil Sine Causa" 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 Brant's Das Narrenschiff(1494)

  9. 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 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.] About Bergmann

  10. Bergmann's Motto, 1497/8

  11. Columbus sensational discovery included “Gold & nackte Leut” It was not clear which was more amazing To judge by the cover, it was the latter Columbus’ Report

  12. Columbus' Report, Cover(Basel: Bergmann, 1493)

  13. Broadside on Ensisheim Meteor D e   f u l g e t r a   a n n i   1 4 9 2V 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

  14. 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 Amerbach's imprint in 1494 & 1492) Brant's Narrenschiff(1494)

  15. 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 Brant's Narrenschiff(1494)

  16. Brant's Narrenschiff(13. Kapitel: Of Wooing) XIII. Von buolschafft.An mynem seyl ich draffter yeichVil narren / affen / esel / geüchDie ich verfűr betrüg vnd leych

  17. Sebastian Brant (1457-1521)

  18. Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)

  19. Brant (1457–1521) studied and taught law and poetry in Basel for many years He was an archi-conservative humanist, pious & patriotic But: his outspoken criticism against certain abuses of the Church helped prepare the ground for the protestant reformation About Brant

  20. 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 like Amerbach, Furter, Froben & Petri, besides Bergmann He was equally skilled in writing poetry & legal texts He edited the Church Fathers Augustin & Ambrosius, but also Petrarcha, Columbus' Report, & Broadsides About Brant

  21. The great popularity of the book was partly due to the fact that it was explicitly addressed to ALL classes & both genders It was one of the first printed texts in German [Dante & Petrarcha had written in Italian ca. 200 years earlier, but print eds. didn't appear before 1501] Along with Martin Luther's German Bible in 1534, it helped mold the German "neuhochdeutsch" vernacular Success of Brant's Narrenschiff

  22. Brant's Narrenschiff(Title, 1494)

  23. Luther's Bible, 1534

  24. Brant's Narrenschiff(Title, 1494) A beautiful e-Edition can be found in the impressive Bibiotheca Augustana

  25. Brant's Narrenschiff(Contents, 1494) Here part of the Bibiotheca Augustanae-Ed. Contents

  26. Brant's Narrenschiff : The End

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

  28. Locher's free Latin translation was published, also by Bergmann, with the title Stultifera Navis It was printed in March & August 1497, & in March 1498 Dysart Collection 22 is of the 3rd printing Locher's Stultifera Navis(1497/8)

  29. Brant's Narrenschiff (Latin)(Web Catalogue Entry of Dysart 22, March 1498 ed.)

  30. Brant's Narrenschiff (Latin)(Dysart 22: Title Page, 3rd Printing, March 1498)

  31. Unlike Brant's German original, it was meant to address the educated only This apparently excluded most women In several introductory texts in verse and prose, Locher explains the reasons for his undertaking: there are Fools in abundance everywhere Brant's useful book would be unintelligible to them without Locher's Latin version Locher's Stultifera Navis(1497/8)

  32. Locher further justifies his translation by pointing to Dante and Petrarcha 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 Locher's Stultifera Navis(1497/8)

  33. Locher makes much more use of classical sources He also blends them with 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 Locher's Stultifera Navis(1497/8)

  34. Brant, who reviewed Locher's work, reintroduced the proper path to Christian "Sapientia" with many marginal notes in the 1st printing He further expanded these in the 2nd 1497 printing, & added to the texts next to the illustrations The 3d printing (March 1498) remained basically unchanged from the 2nd Locher's Stultifera Navis(1497/8)

  35. Some of Brant's chapters were limited to local customs & would not be easily translated In those cases, Locher fell back on the classics to bemoan corrupt times in general In Kap.4, Brant finds the contemporary fashion too revealing [even the navel!] Locher's Stultifera Navis(1497/8)

  36. Brant's Narrenschiff(4. Kapitel: Of New Ways) V. Von nuwen fundenWer vil nüw fünd macht durch die landDer gibt vil ærgernyß vnd schandVnd halt den narren by der hand

  37. Locher changes Brant's "damn the German nation" to a timeless & universal "O mores hominum, corrupta o tempora, et atra" borrowed from Cicero[oh the bad ways of mankind, oh what sinful & dark times] The Latin version of Brant's Narrenschiff was an instant hit & soon spawned many translations, incl. Alexander Barclay's Ship of Fools(1509) Locher's Stultifera Navis(1497/8)

  38. In German-speaking countries, there were the inspired sermons of Geiler von Kaysersberg (1445 bis 1510) Equally important were satires bythe FranciscanmonkThomas Murner (1475-1537) His 1511/12 Schelmenzunftsurpass Brant's book in wit, as does his Narrenbeschwörung Murnerbecamewell-known as a bitter opponent 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 Influence of Stultifera Navis(1497/8)

  39. One particularly noteworthy influence is The Praise of Folly by Erasmus It was published in 1511, & has one at least one of its sources in common with the Narrenschiff: Lucian (ca. 125-180 A.D.) who was widely read by the educated He also inspired satirists like Rabelais, Grimmelshausen, Molière,Swift, Cervantes, Voltaire, & even down to Brecht Influence of Stultifera Navis(1497/8)

  40. Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was in Basel in 1492 & 1494 as a journeyman The ca. 80 woodcuts [of 117 in the Latin eds.] for Brant's book were likely his first professional assignment He is believed to have collaborated with the author to match the text A good example is the allegorical Venus in Kap. 4: a pictorial translation, she is led by a blind-folded Cupid… About Dürer

  41. Brant's Narrenschiff(XXIIII. De Amore Venereo)

  42. One especially intriguing ill. in Dysart 22 is CXLV, De corrupto ordine vivendi[Of Corrupt Ways of Living] In the upper left-hand corner, it shows a square horoscope for Oct. 2, 1503 It is the last of 117 illustrations in the 1497/1498 editions About Dürer

  43. Brant's Narrenschiff(Latin eds, ill. 117: Of Corrupt Ways of Living)

  44. This may be related to one of the many "Weltuntergang" predictions, & also Brant's 1492 Broadside about the Meteor impact in Ensisheim Dürer, who had witnessed this "warning" event then, was engaged in his series of 16 apocalyptic woodcuts (1496-1498) at the time he provided this particular image in 1497/8 About Dürer

  45. Dürer's Acopalypse

  46. 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 1497/8 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/ References

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