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ex-libris THE WORLD OF EX-LIBRIS |
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A historical retrospective 1 EARLY PRINTED EX-LIBRIS 1470-1700 |
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1a
EARLY HAND-COLOURED GERMAN EX-LIBRIS 1470-1586 Some of the early printed bookplates were hand-coloured; perhaps the aim was to give the ex-libris the aspect of an original art-work, worthy of the important libraries and books for which they were made, like the ones which were painted on manuscripts and which pre-date the appearence of printed ex-libris. There is some speculation as to who, usually, did the colouring – probably the librarian, or the owner, rather than the printer. Hand-coloured ex-libris are very rare in comparison to uncoloured ones, from which one can deduce that normally only a small amount of prints, perhaps for specially important books, were embellished in this way. The practice of hand-colouring did not exist, to any significant degree, outside Germany. |
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1a/1. ? (D)  HILDEBRAND BRANDENBURG (ex dono), X1/col. +
cal., 68 x 65, c.1470-1480. W 245. Viz. Warnecke intro. p. 7 + ill.
p. 8; Lempert 4, taf. iv; L-W p. 94 + ill. frontisp.; Castle p. 29; von
Zurwesten p. 24 + ill. p. 21; Berghman p. 32, etc.
Hildebrand Brandenburg of Biberach was a monk in the
monastery of Buxheim, near Memmingen. A man of substance,
he donated various books to its library. To mark his gifts, he had
his arms engraved on wood and printed on large sheets, bound in
and trimmed with the volumes. He coloured them by hand and
next to each wrote an inscription indicating what the book was.
This ex-libris was for a History against the Pagans (c.415-417) by
Paul Orosius, disciple of St. Augustine. The Buxheim library was
dispersed in 1883 and various prints of this ex-libris, one of the
three earliest known, found their way into private and public collections.
This one was formerly in the von Fels
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1a/2. ? (D) BIBL. AUGSBURG, X1/col., 120 x 100, c.1510.
The Augsburg town library was one of the important non-monastic ones of the time. Warnecke registers three similar plates, uncoloured (W 69, 70 and 71), and two other variants are known. This print was exhibited in the DEG centenary exhibition in 1991. Formerly in the Lee collection. |
1a/3. ? (D)
JACOB SPIEGEL, X1/col., 116 x 78, c.1520.Viz. WRBP ill. p. 82. The rare ex-libris of Spiegel normally has a typographical inscription above the arms with the owner’s name, and a verse below. In this instance, the inscription was cut off (perhaps to fit the volume, or because it was used by another member of the family than one who had his name printed on it), and the plate was hand-coloured. |
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1a/4. ? (CH/D) MELCHIOR FATTLIN , X1/col., 156 x 115,
1529. Weg 4077.
The owner (*1490) was Bishop of Constance from 1518 to 1548.
This was the first version which the artist made, and contained
several mistakes: the coat-of-arms was the wrong way around, the
demi-ram issuant held no trefoil – and Bishop Fattlin added by
hand et canonicus to indicate that he was a member of the chapter
of Constance. Dissatisfied, he ordered a second version, the same
year.
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1a/5. ? (CH/D) MELCHIOR FATTLIN, X1/col., 156 x 115,
1529. Weg 4078.
Obviously, Bishop Fattlin was promoted to Dean of the Chapter of
Constance between the time of the first and second versions, as
decanus figures on the plate instead of the handwritten canonicus
on the earlier plate.
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1a/6. ? (D) TIMOTHEUS JUNG, X1/col., 106 x 72, c.1530.
According to the inscription, Jung was a Doctor of Law. As it is
about 50 years earlier than the Agricola ex-libris (Viz. 1a/8), it
displaces it as the earliest recorded legal bookplate. More research
needs to be done on this item.
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1a/7. ? (D) VOGELMANN, X1/col., 81 x 65, c.1530.
A fascinating example of ‘canting’ arms, or a heraldic device
which has an image derived from the name of the owner. The
Vogelmann (‘bird-man’) family is from Nordlingen. Warnecke
lists a different plate for W. Vogelmann, public notary of
Nordlingen, c.1530; this is probably another ex-libris for the same
person.
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1a/8. ? J.B. (?Jakob Bink) (D) CAROLUS AGRICOLA, X1
/col., 142 x 98, ?1538. W12. Viz. L-W p. 151 + ill. p. 149; Hamilton,
p.2; ELJ, Vol. 1, p.1 (ill.).
The Hamburg lawyer’s name, in modern German, would be...
Karl Bauer! A rare and beautiful plate, with representations of the
seasons in the four corners. The second quarter of the arms
shows a cherub sowing seeds (agricola - farmer) and the fourth
the ‘doctor’ symbol of Aesculapius’ rod. Often it was at the ex-libris
owner’s request that liberties were taken with heraldry. The
date of this plate is barely legible; Leiningen suggests 1588,
Warnecke 1573 or 1578, Hamilton 1553 and the previous owner of
this plate, 1533. Under strong magnification, 1538 seems the most
likely.
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