Illuminated Manuscripts for Sale

Hans Ebran von Wildenberg and Andreas von Regensburg

Two Chronicles of Bavarian Nobility in Original, Gilt Ottheinrich Binding

Germany, Bavaria, 1550-1553

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'Chronik von Herkommen der Herzoge in Bayern' with 'Croniken von den Fürsten aus Bairn' A codex bound in an exquisite Ottheinrich binding datable 1553 and comprising two important Bavarian Chronicles. Both manuscripts are demonstrations of Bavarian power and self-imagining in this era – which may have been one reason why the present codex was not sent to Rome in 1622 with the rest of the Palatine Library.

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Two texts in one codex, both written by the same scribe in brown, red, and purple ink in a 16th-century German Cursiva. Some 20th-century notes added in pencil.

Original dated binding of dark brown calf over wooden boards. Gilt and blind stamped,
presumably by the court binder Jörg Bernhardt, dated 1553. Covers panelled by blind fillets
and Moses roll tool, lozenge formed by putti stamp. Gilt central panel stamp on upper cover showing a portrait of Ottheinrich with a second panel, with gilt legend:

OTTHAINRICH VON·G C / PFALTZGRAVE BEY RHEIN / HERTZOG IN NIDERN UND / OBERN : BAIRN.

315 x 220 mm, 183 leaves

of 101

Two chronicles of the Wittelsbach House in original binding

Overview

This work is now sold.

Luxuriously bound for Count Palatinate Ottheinrich in 1553, this codex of two important Bavarian Chronicles is accompanied by coats of arms and a genealogical table of the Dukes of Bavaria. It was originally written for a member of the Wittelsbach House - presumably George the Rich, Ottheinrich's grandfather.

In the first text by Hans Ebran von Wildenberg, Chronik von Herkommen der Herzoge in Bayern, Bavarian history is told through the eyes of the noble ruling class, focusing on the Bavarian princes as well as the ancient kingdom of the 'Haus Bawaria'. Though Hans Ebran finished the first edition in 1479, in 1490-93 a second version which continued to the death of Duke Louis the Rich was finished.

The second text is the Croniken von den Fürsten aus Bairn, where Dean of St. Mang near Regensburg, Andreas von Regensberg, joins the parallel ranks of popes and emperors with the line of the local bishops. The binding of the texts is especially ornate, with a gilt portrait of Ottheinrich on the front cover and his coat of arms on the back.

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