{"product_id":"a-monument-of-south-german-liturgical-printing","title":"A Monument of South German Liturgical Printing","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Constance Missal of 1505 with a Canon on Vellum and Four Illuminated Woodcuts by Hans Burgkmair\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMissale Constantiense.\u003c\/em\u003e [Augsburg], Erhard Ratdolt, 1505.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA magnificent example of Erhard Ratdolt’s mature liturgical printing for the Diocese of Constance, produced in Augsburg in 1505 with a Canon section printed on vellum for daily ritual use and four contemporary coloured woodcuts by Hans Burgkmair, the leading Augsburg artist of the period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrinted in black and red with musical notation throughout, the volume survives in a remarkably intact contemporary blind-stamped binding with its original brass furniture and clasps, preserving the monumental physical presence characteristic of the great South German Missals immediately before the Reformation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eΠ18 Π6 a-p8 q-r6 s-z8 A-E8 F-G8 H6 I-J8 K-L8 = 132 leaves, 13 numbered leaves, 8 leaves, 323 numbered leaves, 8 leaves, 1 blank leaf, 4 leaves, 2 blank leaves. Printed throughout in black and red.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with four large woodcuts, all contemporary coloured, including one full-page woodcut, two half-page woodcuts, and one small medallion; additionally with one computistical woodcut for determining the Sunday letter, numerous decorative initials printed in red and black, lombards in red, and musical notation printed in black on red four-line staves. Folio (345 × 240 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary calf binding over wooden boards on five raised bands, decorated with blind fillets and roll tools, with pierced brass centre- and corner-pieces and intact clasps; traces of leather page markers preserved. Binding slightly rubbed and wormed in places; minor staining at lower margins; internally remarkably well preserved for a heavily used liturgical volume.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eErhard Ratdolt and the Art of the Liturgical Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFew printers shaped the visual language of late medieval liturgical printing more decisively than Erhard Ratdolt.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter operating a printing workshop in Venice from 1476 onward, Ratdolt returned to Augsburg in 1486 bringing with him not only technical innovations in typography and colour printing, but also an exceptional sense for proportion and page design. His large liturgical books for southern German and Austrian dioceses soon became celebrated for their technical refinement and visual splendour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe alternating black and red printing, integration of musical notation, large initials, calendars, and woodcut illustration required extraordinary precision. Ratdolt mastered these complexities with an elegance contemporaries already regarded as unsurpassed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHans Burgkmair and the Augsburg Renaissance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the woodcut illustrations Ratdolt secured the collaboration of Hans Burgkmair, the greatest Augsburg artist of the generation before Holbein.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present Missal contains four woodcuts by Burgkmair in beautiful contemporary colouring, preserving the devotional atmosphere intended for ceremonial use. Particularly striking is the combination of monumental sacred imagery with the disciplined typographic architecture of Ratdolt’s printing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnlike purely decorative Renaissance illustration, these images functioned within the rhythm of the Mass itself, structuring the reader’s movement through the liturgy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Canon on Vellum\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe most important section of the volume, the \u003cem\u003eCanon missae\u003c\/em\u003e, was printed on vellum rather than paper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis was a practical decision. The Canon contained the Eucharistic prayers repeated daily during the celebration of Mass and therefore suffered the greatest wear during use. Vellum offered significantly greater durability under constant handling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRatdolt employed this feature repeatedly in his deluxe liturgical productions, and surviving examples with vellum Canons remain among the most admired achievements of German early printing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBetween Medieval Ritual and the Reformation\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Constance Missal stands at a historical threshold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRatdolt’s solemn liturgical books preserved a highly ceremonial vision of late medieval worship at precisely the moment when the religious culture sustaining such productions was beginning to fracture. Only a few years later the Reformation would fundamentally transform the liturgy, diminish the role of the traditional Missal, and eventually contribute to the decline of Ratdolt’s own workshop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYet in works like the present volume, the late medieval Church reached one of its highest typographic and artistic expressions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGerman private collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams M 1536; BM STC German 952; Dodgson; Proctor; Schottenloher; VD16 M 5608.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 12b:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_1_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume I\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46844765077692,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p126_img01.jpg?v=1779298783","url":"https:\/\/atelierzweig.com\/products\/a-monument-of-south-german-liturgical-printing","provider":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}