Beschreibung:

SCHEMPART BUCH, in German, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER
SCHEMPART BUCH, in German, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER [Nuremberg, c.1540] 328 x 210mm. 138 leaves (apparently lacking a leaf once foliated 3, possibly blank) of which 68 pages with text written in cursive German hands and 64 pages with full-page illustration including FIFTY-FOUR FULL-LENGTH SILVER-MASKED COSTUMED FIGURES, accompanied by coats of arms, FIVE TOURNAMENT SCENES and nine further illustrations of carnival floats on text pages, all illustration in ink and coloured wash and some body-colour (some spotting and tiny tears at the bottom edge of first three leaves). CONTEMPORARY PANELLED CALF OVER WOODEN BOARDS, stamped in blind with tools including a roll with two crucifixions and a standing saint, a roll with entwining flower and foliage, and various flower and leaf stamps, upper cover lettered 'Schenpert Buch', brass fore-edge clasps and catches (scuffed and losses of leather from edges, lacking one clasp, rebacked). A DRAMATIC PRESENTATION OF CHARACTERS FROM NUREMBERG'S HISTORIC CARNIVAL PROVENANCE: Recording one of the great civic festivities of Nuremberg, Schempart , or Scönbart books, both manuscript and printed, were produced from the 16th to the 20th centuries: S. Sumberg, The Nuremberg Schembart Carnival , 1941; H.-U. Roller, Der Nürnberger Schembartlauf. Studium zum Fest- ind Maskenwesen des späten Mittelalters , 1965; The World From Here, Treasures of the Great Libraries of Los Angeles , eds C. Burlingham & B. Whiteman, exh. cat. Los Angeles 2001-2002, pp.158-159. The present manuscript is one of the earliest of surviving copies and it dates soon after the final occurence of the event in 1539: the bear watermark is the same as Piccard, Vierfüssler, Raubtiere , XV, 2, no 915, given as Nürnberg 1538. Purchased from Emil Offenbacher 13 October 1949. SCHEMPART LAUF The Schempart Lauf -- a carnival parade for Shrove Tuesday -- originated as a privilege granted by the emperor Charles IV in 1349 to the butchers' guild of Nuremberg. The previous year the trade guilds of the city had risen up, overthrown and replaced the patrician town council. After almost a year Charles IV moved against them, reinstated the original regime, had their usurpers executed and had their new building torn down. To reward the butchers' guild for not participating in the revolt the Emperor granted them the right to a special public celebration on Fassnacht : they could wear masks -- the Schempart -- dance, perform fencing matches and parade. The dancers were protected by Laüfer , runners, whose own perfomance gradually came to be the main event. They wore not only masks but newly designed, extravagant costumes, richly decorated with embroidery and ribbons, and bells that jingled as they ran through the streets. They brandished lances and bunches of leaves -- Lebensrute -- that concealed fireworks. From the end of the 15th century there were also floats -- called Hölle or hells -- that were the focus of further spectacle. There were at least sixty-four years from 1449 to 1539 when the Schempart carnival took place. It was sometimes suspended because of plague or unrest, occasionally when it did take place it led to disorder and, even, fire. It was the potential -- and actual -- riotousness of these events that caused their eventual demise: in 1539 the general rowdiness offensive to Reformation sensibilities was compounded by the presence on the float of a figure representing the Lutheran minister Osiander, holding a backgammon board, and surrounded by fools and devils. This was a step too far. In spite of various earlier attempts at reinstatement it was not until the 20th century that the Schempart Lauf once again became part of Nuremberg public life. ILLUMINATION: The colourful figures, adopting striking attitudes to best display their flamboyant outfits, are enchanting and dramatic evocations of renaissance spectacle. They are boldly drawn with a firm contouring line and silver- and gold-leaf are used to accent the patterns on