{"product_id":"the-family-album-of-the-later-nuremberg-mayor-johann-albrecht-haller-von-hallerstein-in-its-original-1585-binding","title":"The Family Album of the Later Nuremberg Mayor Johann Albrecht Haller von Hallerstein in its Original 1585 Binding","description":"\u003ch3\u003eJohann Albrecht Haller von Hallerstein’s \u003cem\u003eAlbum Amicorum\u003c\/em\u003e with 26 Illuminated Heraldic Miniatures\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChristian Egenolff (editor). \u003cem\u003eAnthologia gnomica.\u003c\/em\u003e Frankfurt am Main, Georg Rab for Sigmund Feyerabend, 1579. Together with: \u003cem\u003eStam[m] oder Gesellenbuch.\u003c\/em\u003e Frankfurt am Main, Georg Rab for Sigmund Feyerabend, 1579.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn extraordinary Renaissance \u003cem\u003ealbum amicorum\u003c\/em\u003e belonging to the future Nuremberg mayor Johann Albrecht Haller von Hallerstein, preserved in its original dated binding of 1585 and containing approximately three dozen contemporary inscriptions together with 26 illuminated heraldic miniatures in gold and colours. Few surviving German friendship albums document the educational, social, and psychological world of a late sixteenth-century patrician student with such richness and immediacy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAnthologia gnomica:\u003c\/em\u003e )(8 A–Z8 a8 = 8 leaves, 187 [for 190] numbered leaves, 2 blank leaves, 1 additional leaf. Leaves D5, N1, and O1 lacking; after T8 an additional leaf with heraldic miniature inserted.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eStam[m] oder Gesellenbuch:\u003c\/em\u003e A–Z8 a–b8 = 196 [for 199] numbered leaves, lacking final blank leaf. Leaves C5, G4, L2, and final blank lacking. Titles printed in red and black.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with two full-page illuminated heraldic miniatures on inserted preliminary leaves; repeated woodcut printer’s devices on titles and final printed leaves; \u003cem\u003eAnthologia\u003c\/em\u003e with a full-page repeated woodcut armorial device of Johannes Posthius and 162 [for 165] frequently repeated woodcuts, several full-page, of which 22 illuminated in gold and colours, together with an additional inserted heraldic miniature leaf. The \u003cem\u003eStam[m] oder Wappenbuch\u003c\/em\u003e contains 193 [for 196] repeated woodcuts, several full-page, of which three illuminated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOctavo (157 × 95 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary dark brown calf binding over five raised bands with lozenge-shaped arabesque tools in spine compartments and manuscript paper label at head of spine. Covers decorated with ruled frame borders, narrow ornamental roll, and central arabesque medallion; front cover dated “1585.” Richly ornamental gilt and gauffered edges. Corners discreetly restored; lacking the original four ties.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume survives in an unusually authentic and untouched condition. Unlike many surviving \u003cem\u003ealba amicorum\u003c\/em\u003e, which were heavily altered, broken up, or rebound over the centuries, the present example preserves both its original structure and its original social atmosphere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Education of a Nuremberg Patrician\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album belonged to Johann Albrecht Haller von Hallerstein (1569–1654), member of one of Nuremberg’s oldest patrician dynasties and later mayor of the imperial city. The book was apparently prepared by his parents in 1585 when the sixteen-year-old departed for studies in Jena before continuing through northern Italy on a kind of aristocratic educational tour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRather than presenting their son with blank pages alone, the Hallers assembled two specially printed \u003cem\u003eStamm- oder Gesellenbücher\u003c\/em\u003e produced by Feyerabend in Frankfurt — publications intentionally designed for inscriptions, heraldic additions, and commemorative entries. The books combined moral sayings, allegorical woodcuts, empty heraldic shields, and spaces intended to be filled by friends, fellow students, and travelling companions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is not merely a friendship album, but a highly structured document of Renaissance self-fashioning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHumanism, Friendship, and the Birth of the Individual\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003ealbum amicorum\u003c\/em\u003e emerged from the intellectual world of Renaissance humanism and the Reformation. Medieval aristocratic heraldic books evolved into more personal records of scholarly friendship, mobility, and self-definition. As Tenschert notes, individuation simultaneously produced social isolation, and the friendship album became a way for students travelling far from home to reconstruct a sense of community and belonging.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaller’s album perfectly embodies this transition between aristocratic lineage culture and humanist individuality. The inserted illuminated heraldic miniatures of his parents still reflect older dynastic traditions, while the later entries reveal the social networks of a travelling Protestant patrician student moving between courts, universities, and noble households across the Holy Roman Empire and northern Italy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Social Map of Late Renaissance Germany\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe entries form a remarkably vivid social document. Haller’s companions included:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFranconian and Upper Palatine nobles\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003esons of Nuremberg patrician families\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ejurists and future civic officials\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProtestant officers\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003estudents encountered in Jena, Padua, Pavia, Venice, and Bologna\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany entries include elaborate heraldic miniatures in gold and colours, while others preserve Latin verses, German sayings, Italian poetry, or personal mottos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral inscriptions can be tied to identifiable historical figures whose later careers illuminate the political world of late sixteenth-century Germany. Particularly striking are the entries from Haller’s years in Jena and Italy, where the album records the widening horizons of a young Protestant patrician moving from local Franconian identity toward broader European aristocratic culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTobias Stimmer, Jost Amman, and Renaissance Visual Culture\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe printed books themselves were richly illustrated. The woodcuts, designed largely by the Nuremberg artist Jost Amman, depict allegories of the Liberal Arts, personifications, empty heraldic shields, and emblematic scenes intended to be completed through later personalization.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany of these were subsequently overpainted with individual coats of arms, transforming repeated printed imagery into unique heraldic miniatures. The interaction between print and manuscript illumination gives the volume a fascinating hybrid character: part printed book, part manuscript album, part heraldic archive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Life Beyond the Album\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter returning from Italy around 1589, Johann Albrecht Haller von Hallerstein embarked upon a distinguished political career in Nuremberg. He became councillor in 1618, “young mayor” in 1619, later “old mayor,” and eventually one of the city’s leading magistrates during the Thirty Years’ War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album therefore preserves not only youthful memories, but the formative social world of one of the most important members of the Haller dynasty at the very beginning of his public life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohann Albrecht Haller von Hallerstein (1569–1654).\u003cbr\u003eSotheby’s, London, 28 November 2007.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAnthologia:\u003c\/em\u003e Adams E 73; Andresen I, pp. 398ff., no. 236; Becker 25a, pp. 91f.; BM STC German 262; Brunet II, 1080f.; Graesse II, 508; VD16 E 579.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eStam[m] oder Gesellenbuch:\u003c\/em\u003e Andresen I, pp. 398ff., no. 236; Becker 25b, pp. 92f.; Brunet I, 235; Ebert 523; Graesse I, 102; VD16 S 8535.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem data-end=\"414\" data-start=\"400\"\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 94: \u003cspan data-state=\"closed\" class=\"\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46834143789244,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Album-Amicorum-1.png?v=1779067697","url":"https:\/\/atelierzweig.com\/products\/the-family-album-of-the-later-nuremberg-mayor-johann-albrecht-haller-von-hallerstein-in-its-original-1585-binding","provider":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}