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Tag Archives: Renaissance

On Jon’s Desk: Vergilii Maronis Dreyzehen Bücher von dem tewren Helden Enea, Humanism, and Tying it all Together

01 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by Jonathan Bingham in On Jon's Desk

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1559, 16th Century, Aeneid, Aldus Manutius, David Zopffeln, Erasmus, Frankfurt am Main, German Translation, humanism, Jacques Lefevre d'Etaples, Jon Bingham, Lorenzo Valla, Publius Vergilius Maro, Renaissance, Thomas More, Thomas Murner, Vergilii Maronis Dreyzehen Bucher von dem tewren Helden Enea, Virgil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“A Brief Preface to the Reader. Please note (dear friendly reader) that Virgil’s books of the Aeneid were translated into German many years ago by an educated man and were published. Here they are again, newly printed, corrected in many places, the printing improved, and every book having its own beautiful illustration attached to it. You can see this for yourself while reading, more than I can quickly show or tell you. Herewith are Almighty God’s commands obeyed.”

– David Zöpffeln, Preface to Virgil’s Thirteen Books of the Hero Aeneas, 1559

Title: Vergilii Maronis Dreyzehen Bücher von dem tewren Helden Enea

Author: Publius Vergilius Maro (Virgil)

Translated (Latin to German): Thomas Murner (1475 – 1537)

Printed: Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Printed by David Zöpffeln, 1559

Call Number: PA6811 A5 M8

 

We have many important historical contributions to thank the humanists for. This delightful version of Virgil’s Aeneid in German is one of them. Printed in 1559 by David Zöpffeln in Frankfurt using Thomas Murner’s 1515 translation, this palm-size treasure is a combination of several exciting 16th century developments. Holding it in your hand is like having a piece of the Renaissance all to yourself. Sometimes I feel Humanism gets too much hype; that putting the humanist movement on a pedestal risks overlooking a thousand years of important history. Yet if there is one way to convince me how fantastic the humanists were it would be to hand me a copy of Vergilii Maronis Dreyzehen Bücher von dem tewren Helden Enea.

What makes this book special? First, it is Virgil’s Aeneid. Second, it is Thomas Murner’s German translation. Third, it represents a culmination of Renaissance philosophical thinking that occurred in Europe during the 16th century. Let’s break this down.

Who was Virgil? Publius Vergilius Maro (70 – 19 BCE) was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period and is traditionally ranked as one of Rome’s greatest poets. He wrote three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. The Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome since the time of its composition and is considered Virgil’s finest work and one of the most important poems in the history of western literature. Virgil worked on the Aeneid during the last eleven years of his life, commissioned, according to Sextus Propertius (a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age), by Augustus (born Gaius Octavius, great nephew of Julius Caesar, founder of the Roman Principate and considered the first Roman emperor). Modeled after Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, the Aeneid follows the Trojan refugee Aeneas as he struggles to fulfill his destiny and reach Italy –where his descendants Romulus and Remus were to found the city of Rome. Virgil’s work has had wide and deep influence in Western literature, most notably Dante’s Divine Comedy, in which Virgil appears as Dante’s guide through Hell and Purgatory.

Who was Thomas Murner? He was a German satirist, poet, and translator who lived from 1475 until 1536 or 1537 (accounts differ). He was educated, a member of the Franciscan Order, and a humanist. Never turning to secularism, Murner directed his satires against the corruption of the times and the Reformation (particularly Martin Luther). His most powerful and virulent satire was Von dem grossen Lutherischen Narren wie ihn Doctor Murner beschworen hat (On the Great Lutheran Fool, 1522). In 1523 Henry VIII invited Murner to England, where his writings caught the attention of the famous humanist Thomas More. John Headley (Professor Emeritus, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ph.D. Yale University, 1960) postulates that it was Murner who first made More aware of Martin Luther’s radical ecclesiology (or theology as applied to the nature and structure of the Christian Church).

Okay, so what’s Humanism all about anyways? Humanism is an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems. In the Renaissance perspective, it was a cultural movement that turned away from medieval scholasticism and revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought. Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence (rationalism and empiricism) over acceptance of dogma or superstition.

What’s the big deal with Humanism and why is it so important? Humanism began as a revival of the study of ancient Greek and Roman texts, yet the humanists did not see themselves as being in conflict with Christianity. Some were secular leaders, but many were ordained priests. The humanists’ close study of Latin and Greek literary texts enabled them to discern important historical differences in the texts during various time periods. This was greatly aided by the influx and increased availability of many texts coming into Western Europe after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. Humanist scholars increasingly turned to the study of Neoplatonism and Hermeticism, hoping to bridge the differences between the Greek and Roman Churches, and even between Christianity itself and the non-Christian world. The refugees from Byzantium brought with them Greek manuscripts, not only of Plato and Aristotle, but also of the early copies of the Christian Gospels, previously unavailable in the Latin West.

When the new invention of printing made these texts widely available, the Dutch humanist Erasmus (who had studied Greek at the Venetian printing house of Aldus Manutius) began a philological analysis of the Gospels in the spirit of Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457), Italian humanist, rhetorician, educator, and Catholic priest, comparing the Greek originals to their Latin translations with a view to correcting errors and discrepancies in the latter. Erasmus, along with the French humanist Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples (c. 1455–1536), began issuing new translations of important historical texts. Italian and French humanism concentrated on scholarship and philology.

That is why this 1559 edition of Vergilii Maronis Dreyzehen Bücher von dem tewren Helden Enea is so fantastic – its connection to something bigger than itself. That is what makes all of us humans so special, as the humanists realized centuries ago. We are all individually and collectively amazing, like books, because of our ability to connect to and become part of something bigger than just ourselves – yet without fearing the loss of our personalities. This palm-size copy of Virgil’s Aeneid in German has some great personality, but it is also part of something big and wonderful.

~Contributed by Jon Bingham, Rare Books Curator

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Book of the Week — He Kaine Diatheke

04 Monday Apr 2016

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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Antoine Augereau, Aristotle, astrology, Bible, bibliographer, binding, Book of Hours, calendar, Calvin, Chartres, Christmas Eve, Cicero, classics, cosmology, Demarruello, Estienne, Euclid, France, French, Garamond, Geoffroy Tory, Gothic, Greek, Greek New Testament, Henri Estienne, heresy, heretic, Hesiod, hinges, Hippocrates, Horace, Hore beate marie, indices, initials, italic, Latin, Louvain, Lutheran, New Testament, Ovid, Paris, Paris Parlement, pressed paper boards, printing, proof sheets, Protestant, putti, R. Peter, Renaissance, repair, Robert Estienne I, Roman Catholic, signatures, Simon de Colines, Sophocles, subheadings, Terence, The University of Utah, theological, tools, typeface, typefounder, University of Paris, Virgil, woodcut

Title page

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” — Hebrews 8:11, New King James Version

HE KAINE DIATHEKE
Paris: [Antoine Augereau for] Simon de Colines, [29 November or 22 December] 1534
BS1965 1534

This is the first Greek New Testament printed in France. Simon de Colines edited the text, using printed and manuscript sources. To save his own neck, Colines hid the involvement of the book’s printer, Protestant typefounder Antoine Augereau. Augereau was condemned as a heretic, hung, and then burned at the stake on Christmas Eve 1534, only a few days after finishing the printing of Ha Kaine Kiatheke.

In 1520, Colines married the widow of Henri Estienne, the founder of the distinguished Estienne press, and took charge of that press until Estienne’s son, Robert I, took over in 1526. Colines then set up his own shop nearby. He focused his publishing efforts on Greek and Latin classics – works by Aristotle, Cicero, Sophocles, Hesiod, Horace, Ovid, Virgil, Terence, Euclid, Hippocrates and others – works then considered the literary backbone of the civilized world. He added to the classics publications of anti-Lutheran theological writings and works by the faculty of the University of Paris. In all, Colines’ press produced at least seven hundred and fifty publications. Although not a scholar himself, he used his considerable familiarity with the Estienne publications and extended his own press to include writings on the natural sciences, cosmology, and astrology.

Colines was an important part of the development of book and reading structure in Renaissance printing. It was during this time that chapter headings, subheadings, running heads, page numbers, tables of content, indices and source notes became elemental fixtures in the publication of texts.

Pg210

Colines designed his own italic and Greek fonts and a roman typeface from which Garamond type was derived. He was one of the earliest printers to mix italic fonts with roman typefaces. During at least one of his printing projects, he worked with type designer Geoffroy Tory.

Ha Kaine Kiatheke is the first book printed in Simon de Colines’ second Greek font, including initial guide letters. The University of Utah copy has three lines (possibly an oath) written in an early hand in French and signed by “Demarruello.”

Inscription

It also contains the book plate of Calvin bibliographer R. Peter.

Pastedown

The University of Utah copy bound in contemporary tan calf blind decorated with an outer roll of foxes, winged putti, acanthus leaves and lilies, central rectangle with brazier and foliage tools.

FrontBoard

An earlier repair to the hinges of the binding revealed the following, making up the pressed paper boards: 28 leaves from Les choses co[n]tenues en ce present liure…Le contenu en ceste second partie du nouveau testament, Paris, S. de Colines 10 January 1524; and leaves from Hore beate marie [virgi]nis Secundu[m] vsum insignis ecclesia[?e] Cathedraiis Carnoten[sis]…, Paris, s.n., ca. 1511-1512.

The printed signatures found hidden in the binding appear to be proof sheets for the first Protestant French translation of the New Testament, second edition.

Leaf3

The printing of this edition was completed only months before the Paris Parlement condemned the work as heresy. Yet, the 1524 edition, due to its literary quality and scriptural analysis, served as the basis for nearly all future French versions throughout the century. Ironically, it also served as the 1550 Roman Catholic Louvain Bible.

The leaves from Hore beate…, which also formed part of the binding’s pressed boards, are from an unrecorded Latin-French Book of Hours for the use of Chartres, with a calendar for 1512-1520. The type is Gothic, printed in red and black and includes two-line woodcut initials.

Leaf2

Leaf1

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Live Broadcast of Vesalius Lecture

18 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by rarebooks in Uncategorized

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anatomy, Andreas Vesalius, art, exhibition, exhibitions, Gould Auditorium, J. Willard Marriott Library, lecture, Mark T. Nielsen, medicine, reception, Renaissance, science, The University of Utah, tour, Vesalius

Watch the live broadcast of tonight’s lecture, Renaissance Man: The Art and Science of Andreas Vesalius.

http://lib.utah.edu/services/knowledge-commons/live-broadcast/
Mark Nielsen 8x11 copy 2

September 18, 2014

Lecture: Gould Auditorium, J. Willard Marriott Library, Level 1, 6:30 PM

Reception: Special Collections Gallery, Level 4, 7:30 PM

A 45 minute tour of the exhibitions will begin at 5:30 at the west entrance, Level 1, of the J. Willard Marriott Library.

Learn more about Mark Nielsen.

 alluNeedSingleLine

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Join Us!

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by rarebooks in Vesalius

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anatomy, Andreas Vesalius, art, Gould Auditorium, J. Willard Marriott Library, Mark T. Nielsen, medicine, Renaissance, science, The University of Utah, Vesalius

Mark Nielsen 8x11 copy 2

September 18, 2014

Lecture: Gould Auditorium, J. Willard Marriott Library, Level 1, 6:30 PM

Reception: Special Collections Gallery, Level 4, 7:30 PM

A 45 minute tour of the exhibitions will begin at 5:30 at the west entrance, Level 1, of the J. Willard Marriott Library.

Learn more about Mark Nielsen.

alluNeedSingleLine

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You Are Invited

15 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by rarebooks in Vesalius

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

anatomy, Andreas Vesalius, education, exhibition, Gould Auditorium, J. Willard Marriott Library, lecture, Mark Nielsen, Mark T. Nielsen, medicine, physician, reception, Renaissance, Special Collections Gallery, The University of Utah, Vesalius

Mark Nielsen 8x11 copy 2

September 18, 2014

Lecture: Gould Auditorium, J. Willard Marriott Library, Level 1, 6:30 PM

Reception: Special Collections Gallery, Level 4, 7:30 PM

A 45 minute tour of the exhibitions will begin at 5:30 at the west entrance, Level 1, of the J. Willard Marriott Library.

Learn more about Mark Nielsen.

alluNeedSingleLine

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Vesalius, Part 3 – Save the Date

10 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by rarebooks in Events, Vesalius

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Andreas Vesalius, art, Gould Auditorium, J. Willard Marriott Library, Mark T. Nielsen, Renaissance, science, The University of Utah

Mark Nielsen 8x11 copy 2

September 18, 2014

Lecture: Gould Auditorium, J. Willard Marriott Library, Level 1, 6:30 PM

Reception: Special Collections Gallery, Level 4, 7:30 PM

A 45 minute tour of the exhibitions will begin at 5:30 at the west entrance, Level 1, of the J. Willard Marriott Library.

Learn more about Mark Nielsen.

alluNeedSingleLine

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Vesalius, Part 1 – Celebrating 500 Years of Innovation

08 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by rarebooks in Uncategorized

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anatomical studies, anatomy, Andreas Vesalius, book design, De Corporis Fabrica, education, Gould Auditorium, J. Willard Marriott Library, Leonardo da Vinci, Mark T. Nielsen, medical texts, medicine, Renaissance, Special Collections Gallery, Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, The University of Utah, William Harvey

vesalius_wall_build-wide_06-12-14

See the J. Willard Marriott Library’s digitized 1555 edition of De humani corporis fabrica.
Learn more about our guest speaker Mark Nielsen.

alluNeedSingleLine

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Book of the Week – De Historia Stirpivm Commentarii Insignes…

21 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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Albrecht Meyer, botany, Columbian Encounter, De Historia Stirpium, Erfurt University, Fuchsia, German, Greek, Heinrich Fullmaurer, herbals, Ingolstadt, Latin, Leonhart Fuchs, maize, marigold, medicine, Mexico, plague, plants, potato, pumpkin, Renaissance, tobacco, Veit Rudof Speckle, William Morris, woodcuts

Fuchs, 1542, Title page
Fuchs, 1542, Portrait
Fuchs, 1542

De Historia Stirpivm Commentarii Insignes…
Leonhart Fuchs (1501 – 1566)
Basileae: In officina Isingriniana, 1542
QK41 F7 1542

During the European Renaissance, medical treatments were based on botany, but the herbals and other books available to practitioners often inaccurately identified plants. This herbal, The History of Plants, established a new standard of scientific observation and accurate illustration. Leonhart Fuchs compiled his text from various classical sources but added his own field observations.

The remarkably detailed woodcuts, drawn by Heinrich Fullmaurer and Albrecht Meyer and cut by Veit Rudolf Speckle represent the first published illustrations of American plants, including the pumpkin, the marigold, maize, potato, and tobacco – all native to Mexico and introduced into Europe as a consequence of the Columbian Encounter. The plants were identified in Latin, Greek, and German.

Leonhart Fuchs was a child genius, matriculating at Erfurt University at the age of twelve. He went on to take a degree in medicine at Ingolstadt. His medical work during an outbreak of plague in 1529 was outstanding and contributed to an already growing reputation. In his De Historia Stirpium he gave full recognition to his artists by praising them in his preface and publishing their portraits. The artists achieved an extraordinary beauty of line. Their renderings demonstrate the Renaissance shift to the accurate observation and drawing of plants from life.

Fuchs would be immortalized in the lovely genus Fuchsia. English artist and designer William Morris owned a copy of Fuchs’s book and clearly took inspiration from it for some of his own designs.

 

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