Beschreibung:

ROLEWINCK, Werner (1425-1502). Fasciculus temporum . [Venice]: Ernard Ratdolt, 21st December 1481.
ROLEWINCK, Werner (1425-1502). Fasciculus temporum . [Venice]: Ernard Ratdolt, 21st December 1481. Super-chancery 2 o (311 x 212 mm). Collation : [1 8 ] (-1/1 blank, 1/2r table); [2-9 8 ] (2/1r author's preface, 2/2r woodcut of God creating the world surmounted by woodcut and letterpress cosmological diagram of the Creation, 2/2v text, 9/8v colophon). 71 leaves (of 72; without the first blank), 9-72 foliated 1-64. Table in 3 columns. 50 lines and head-line. Gothic type 6:56(75). Woodcut ornamental initials: 10-line initial G (BMC 6a) on 2/1r, 6-line initial S (BMC 5) on 5/1v. Genealogical diagrams with printed woodcut or metalcut roundels throughout. 25 woodcuts repeated to 64, of which 19 cuts of town views, 2 cuts of the Temple of Solomon, and one cut each of the Creation, Noah's Ark with rainbow, the Tower of Babel, and Salvator Mundi. ALL WOODCUT ILLUSTRATIONS, ROUNDELS AND INITIALS FULLY COLORED BY A CONTEMPORARY HAND. (Small holes at corners in first 6 leaves where punctured by corner-pieces on cover, 4/8-5/6 with wormhole on lower margin edge near gutter, 9/1 reinforced at gutter, a few leaves evenly browned, coloring lightly rubbed or darkened on a few leaves, some occasional pale marginal spotting, a few insignificant short marginal tears.) Binding : Contemporary German quarter blind-stamped pink-dyed pigskin over wooden boards, 3 (of 8) brass corner-pieces, single brass clasp at center, early vellum reinforcing strips visible (rebacked in periode style); quarter morocco folding case. Provenance : a few leaves with marginalia in several early hands; Lazarus Stubicky of Königstein (inscription dated 1638 on 1/1r, apparently presenting the book to); Heraldisches Kabinett in Prague (early 19th-century printed paper label on rear cover describing the practice of signing books to commemorate a coronation with printed signature of v. Schönfeld, Besitzer; booklabel on front pastedown); signatures of 45 prominent Austro/Bohemians in margins of 1/1-2 and 1/6v, most likely honoring the coronation of Ferdinand I; Christian Lutteroth of Suhl (19th century, signature on 3/8r); purchased from Bernard M. Rosenthal, Berkeley, California; Abel E. Berland (his sale Christie's New York, 9 October 2001, lot 435). VERY FINE COLORED COPY, of the third Venetian and second Ratdolt edition of Rolewinck's chronological history of the world. The chronology follows a double time-line, measuring time from both the Creation and the birth of Christ, demanding a remarkably complex typographical layout. The work was immensely popular, being printed 32 times in the 15th century, including translations into French, German and Dutch. The text is a page-for-page reprint of the earlier Venetian editions, but it concludes with a new note on the death (and descent to hell) of Sultan Mohammed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, in May 1481. Seven of the woodcuts are new (including five of the town views); the remainder are those of the first Ratdolt edition (24 November 1480), which included copies of 14 woodcuts from the first Venetian edition printed by Georgius Walch in 1479. Walch's blocks, based on the woodcuts of the Cologne editions, are noteworthy for replacing the block of Cologne with a woodcut of Venice. THIS CUT OF VENICE IS THE FIRST KNOWN PRINTED VIEW OF THAT CITY, showing the Piazza San Marco as seen from the Gran' Canale. WITH A DISTINGUISHED PROVENANCE: the label on the rear cover describes how, following ancient Bohemian practice, all members of high nobility and prominent representatives of the Stände who are alive on the day of coronation should enter their names in a prominent book. The signers of the present Rolewinck were most likely honoring the coronation of Ferdinand I, who was crowned emperor of Austria in 1835. Among the 45 signatures are those of Franz Josef Drietrichstein, Carl Graf Palffÿ, Nicolaus Fürst Esterhazy, Antonia verwitwete Gräfin von Wratzlaw, August Fürst von Lobkowitz (followed by several other members of