FIFTEENTH-CENTURY EDITIONS OF FASCI CULUS TEMPORUM IN AMERICAN LIBRARIES

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1 FIFTEENTH-CENTURY EDITIONS OF FASCI CULUS TEMPORUM IN AMERICAN LIBRARIES WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE BY AKSEL G. S. JOSEPHSON Werner Rolevinck, the author of the Fasciculus tem porum, was born in 1425, in Laer, Westphalia, the son of a well-to-do farmer. In 1447, after he had finished his school and university studies, he entered the Car thusian Monastery of S:ta. Barbara, in Koln, and here he died in Of his life little is known, but he seems to have been an influential member of his order and took an active part in its synods and conferences. Among his friends was the learned abbot Trithemius, and he was evidently acquainted with many of the leading men of his time. Rolevinck was a diligent author of theological and historical works; the former still remain for the most part in manuscript. The most authoritative of his historical works is his description of manners and customs in his native land which he published under the title De laude veteris Saxonice nunc Westphalia dicta, but the work by which he is best known is the universal history which he compiled and which is the subject of this note. The Fasciculus temporum is not the result of original research; it is a mere compilation from various sources, but it 6l

2 62 Bibliographical Society of America acquired soon an unusual popularity; nearly forty editions of it were printed during the author's lifetime, and it continued to be printed over and over again during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the last edition being of as recent date as This popularity was due, not only to the craving among the general public for popular historical reading, but also to the numerous illustrations with which it was adorned. Dr. Leo Baer, of Frankfurt a. M., has given an interesting analysis and classification of the various editions, based on the illus trations, in his work Die illustrierten Historienbiicher des fiinfzehnten Jahrhunderts. He finds that a study of the woodcuts of the various editions of the book offers a consecutive view of the art of woodcutting during the latter part of the fifteenth century. He points out that because the general type remains the same through all of them, it is possible to trace what is individual in the work of each artist. For students of the history of printing the Fasciculus has a special interest because its author is one of the contemporary chroniclers who mention the invention of the new art. The reference to printing occurs under the date 1457, and in three different forms1 in the various editions, which therefore might be classified by these various types of the statement. The first form of it, the one that occurs in the two editions of 1474, runs as follows: "Artificies mira celeritate subtiliores solito 11 am indebted to Mr. Charles Martel for calling my attention to the three forms of this statement.

Editions of "Fasciculus Temporum" 6 3 fiunt. Et impressores librorum multiplicantur in terra.1" Already the 1476 edition, however, adds to this the words "orturn sue artis habentes in Moguntia.

3 Editions of "Fasciculus Temporum" 6 3 fiunt. Et impressores librorum multiplicantur in terra.1" Already the 1476 edition, however, adds to this the words "orturn sue artis habentes in Moguntia."2 The third Koln edition, of 1478, varies the statement and elaborates on the importance of the invention in the following manner: "Librorum impressionis scientia subtilissima omnibus saeculis in audita circa hec tempora reperitur in urbe maguntina. Hec est ars artium, scientia sci entiarum, per cuius celeritatis exercitionem thesaurus desiderabilis sapientie et scientie quem omnes homines per instinctum nature desiderat. Qui de profundis latibularum tenebris persiliens. Mundum hunc in mal igno positum dictat pariter ac illuminat. "3 One or the other of these types occurs in every edition of the book, and a classification of the editions might be attempted on this basis. As far as the form of the reference has been ascertained, the following list contains notes on the three types. The list itself gives all the editions recorded in bib liographical literature, including one or two of which no copy is known and which may be spurious. The ref erences to American libraries and collectors owning copies are from the List of incunabula in American libraries Koln: Nicolaus Gotz. Hain Type a. J. P. Morgan's Library. 1 Type A, with reference in index under Artifices librorum impressores. ' Type B, with reference in index under Artifices librorum impressores. 3 Type C, with reference in index under Librorum impressores.

4 64 Bibliographical Society of America Koln: Arnold ter Hoernen. Hain *6918. Type a. Annmary Brown Memorial; Library of Congress (Thatcher collection) Koln: Conradus Winters. Hain *6919. Type b. L. C. (Thatcher); Newberry Library; John Crerar Library Louvain: Jan Veldener. Hain *6920. Type a Koln: Arnold ter Hoernen. Brit. Mus. Cat. p Speyer: Petrus Drach. Hain *6921. Type a Koln: Nicolaus Gotz. Hain *6922. Typeb. ; L.C. (Thatcher) Koln: Heinrich Quentell. Hain * Venezia: Georg Walch. Hain *6924. Type a. ; J.P.M.; L.C.; L.C. (Thatcher) Koln: Heinrich Quentell. 71 p. Hain *6925. Typeb. ; H. Walters, Baltimore Koln:? 74 p Utrecht: Jan Veldener. Hain Dutch translation. Type a. ; L.C. (Thatcher); J.P.M Venezia: Erhard Ratdolt. Hain *6926. Type a. ; J. C. Williams, Morristown, N.J.; J. H. Scheide, Titusville, Pa Valencia: Barth. Segura & Alph. de Portu. Hain Koln: Heinrich Quentell. Hain *6929. Type b. ; New York Public Library Basel: Bernhard Richel. Hain *6939. German trans lation Rougemont: Heinrich Wirzburg. Hain Type c. ; L.C Venezia: Erhard Ratdolt. Hain *6928. Type a. ; L.C. (Thatcher); J.P.M.; Walters; New berry Library.

5 Editions of "Fasciculus Temporum" Memmingen: Albert Kunne. Hain *6931. Type a. ; L.C. (Thatcher) Basel: Bernhard Richel. Hain * Lyon:? Hain *6941. French translation Venezia: Erhard Ratdolt. Hain Spurious? Red grave Venezia: Erhard Ratdolt. Hain *6934. Type a. ; L.C. (Thatcher); J.P.M Venezia: Erhard Ratdolt. Hain *6935. Type a. ; L.C Aquileia: Adam de Rotvil? Alemanus Strassburg: Joh. Priiss. Hain *6936. Type c. ; Boston Athenaeum; Princeton Univ. Library Strassburg: Joh. Priiss. Hain *6937. Type c. ; L.C.; L.C. (Thatcher); Princeton. 1490? Strassburg: Joh. Priiss. Hain Typec. ; L.C.; J.C.L. 1490? Koln: Ludovicus de Renchen? Hain * ? Strassburg: Joh. Priiss. Not before Hain *6915. Type c. ; N.Y.P.L Lyon:? Hain French translation. 1492? Strassburg: Joh. Priiss. After 26 October ?? Hain Panzer VI: 56, * ? Lyon: Mathias Hus. Cop Geneve: Loys M. Cruse. Hain Geneve: Jean Bellot? Hain Lyon: Mathias Hus. Hain 6945.?? Versailles (Pellechet) French translation.

Copy Cataloging New Monographs: Fields to Check: AACR and Hybrid Records

Copy Cataloging New Monographs: Fields to Check: AACR and Hybrid Records Audience: primarily Kent Campus people, though most criteria are applicable in any library Scope: primarily newly-acquired books;