Local History

The Nuremberg Chronicle, also known as the Liber Chronicarum, is a history of the world from creation to its publication in 1493.

A 15th Century map from the Chronicle

It is considered one of the most outstanding examples of early printing, well known due to the illustrations which are of a higher quality than most books of the time.

Following in the tradition of medieval chronicles it separates human history into six ages.

It includes the history of the Church, medieval and contemporary events, royal genealogies, histories of important Western cities, fables, myths and legends, as well as the lives of important figures such as kings, clergymen, philosophers and thinkers.

The Chronicle contains 1804 illustrations created from 652 woodblocks, meaning that many images were used more than once.

A page from the Chronicle

This was a common practice during the time both to save money and because readers accepted the pictures as idealised etchings rather than accurate depictions.

The text was put together by Hartman Schedel, a Nuremberg physician, while leading artists of the day Michael Wohlgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff were responsible for the illustrations and one of Europe's top publishers Anton Koberger did all the printing.

Amanda Bennett of the Priaulx Library described it as "the first medieval best seller" when she spoke to our reporter Eddie Parks about the Library's copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle.