Podcasts: Dr. Albrecht Classen
"After the Discovery of the New World - The Discovery of History: Hartmann Schedel’s The Nuremberg Chronicle" - February 19, 2008

Outline of Podcast

• Listen to the entire podcast (01:17:25 MP3)


• Listen to the welcome and introduction (00:03:37 MP3)
• Listen to Dr. Classen’s lecture (00:57:32 MP3)
• Listen to the questions and answers (00:15:02 MP3)

Additional Notes

1. Welcome and Introduction
• Associate Librarian Michael Brewer, subject liaison for the German Studies Department.
2. Dr. Classen’s lecture
• 2. Dr. Classen presents a brief outline and description of incunabula, the early printed books from 1450 - 1500. The differences between chronicles and annuls is explained. Terms discussed: fabula, historia, teratology, and bricolage. Reviews the background and history Hartmann Schedel, a member of Nuremberg’s urban elite who was esponsible for the creation of the Nuremburg Chronicle. Nuremberg was a crucial center of cultural exchange during this time. Dr. Classen present’s Hartmann Schedel’s Nuremberg Chronicle as one of the great masterpieces of its time. And Schedel collaborated with scholars and artists of that time period. The Chronicle represents a paradigm shift and harbinger of the modern age. The book illustrates many of the changes in both textual and artistic style that evolved from medieval times into the Renaissance era. Illustrations of Nuremberg, a scriptorium, bestiaries, maps, and other images made from the facsimile in Special Collections serve to illustrate the lecture. Chronicles are re-constructions of facts falling into many categories. Medieval chronicles range from world histories to local and regional chronicle, verse chronicles giving way to prose chronicles. Schedel’s Nuremberg Chronicle is one of the outstanding world history chronicles. It demonstrates the shift in the making of books which resulted from the use of movable type and the printing press. There are 1809 woodcuts, one-of-a-kind art works contained in the chronicle which took over twenty years to complete. A complete set of the layouts, were discovered in 1973. Dr. Classen explains how watermarks can be used to identify where certain paper originated from. Chronicles were so popular, that pirated editions were made. The book covers history from Genesis to 1493, and divides history into 6 world ages followed by a scatological one. The majority of source material came from Italian humanist writers. Dr. Classen explains how the artists’ perceptions changes from medieval view to a contextualized Renaissance world context, and how both views are present in this work.
3. Questions and Answers
• Location of the original materials and the artists that participated in the creation of the work are discussed. The definition incunabulum is reiterated, as the early period of the printed book. Plagiarism, as an issue during that time period, is discussed. Discussion focuses on the assembly of great art and the scholars that Schedel brought together to create the chronicle.