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Sebastian Brant's Narrenschiff: An Insightful Study of 15th-century German Printing

Explore the rare incunabula collection of Sebastian Brant's Narrenschiff 1494 Latin edition at the University of Manitoba's Dysart Collection. Learn about the cultural context of German printers and the impact of Brant's work in the Renaissance period.

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Sebastian Brant's Narrenschiff: An Insightful Study of 15th-century German Printing

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  1. Sebastian Brant'sNarrenschiff(1494, 3rd Latin ed. 1498)at theUniversity of Manitoba:Dysart Collection No. 22 50th Anniversary Conference, UND Grand Forks, Fr 17 Oct. 2009 gd (rev. 26Feb2010)

  2. 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 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, France, or elsewhere, 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 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 Brant's Das Narrenschiff

  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 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.] About Bergmann

  10. Bergmann's Motto, 1497/8

  11. 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 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 2Latin & German NOTE: Ensisheim was an important administrative Centre of Emperor Maximilian's Court

  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 Basel printer Amerbach in 1494 & 1492) Brant's Narrenschiff I (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 II (1494)

  16. Brant's Narrenschiff(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…

  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 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 About Brant I

  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 & producers like Amerbach, Furter, Froben & Petri, besides Bergmann About BrantII

  21. 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) About BrantIII

  22. 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 Success of Brant's Narrenschiff I

  23. 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 Success of Brant's Narrenschiff II

  24. Brant's Narrenschiff(Title, 1494)

  25. Luther's Bible, 1534

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

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

  28. Brant's Narrenschiff(The End,1499)

  29. 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 About Locher

  30. 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 Locher's Stultifera Navis I(1497/8)

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

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

  33. 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 Locher's Stultifera Navis II(1497/8)

  34. 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 Locher's Stultifera Navis III(1497/8)

  35. 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 Locher's Stultifera Navis IV(1497/8)

  36. 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!] Locher's Stultifera Navis V(1497/8)

  37. Brant's Narrenschiff(Chapter 4: 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

  38. 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 Stultifera Navis VI(1497/8)

  39. 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… Locher's Stultifera Navis VII(1497/8)

  40. 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's 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 Stultifera Navis VIII(1497/8)

  41. In German-speaking countries, there were inspired sermons of Geiler von Kaysersberg (1445 bis 1510) Equally important were satires bythe FranciscanmonkThomas Murner (1475-1537) His 1511/12 Schelmenzunftsurpasses Brant in wit, as does his Narrenbeschwörung Murnerbecamewell-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 Influence of Stultifera Navis I(1497/8)

  42. Thomas Murner

  43. Thomas Murner's Narrenbeschwörung(1511/12)

  44. Influence of Stultifera Navis II(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

  45. Erasmus, by Holbein, 1523

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

  47. Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) 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 About Dürer I

  48. About Dürer 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"

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

  50. Dürer's Brant Illustrations • 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

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