Bekantnüss der Sündenn einer fürstlichen Person (A Princely Persons Confession of Sins), in German, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
Bekantnüss der Sündenn einer fürstlichen Person (A Princely Persons Confession of Sins), in German, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM

Details
Bekantnüss der Sündenn einer fürstlichen Person (A Princely Persons Confession of Sins), in German, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Nuremberg, c.1540-50]
185 x 145 mm. i + 86 leaves (unfoliated): 1-78, 87(of 8, iii cancelled blank) 8-1, 9-108, 117(vii a singleton), COMPLETE, 19 lines written in brown ink in a calligraphic bookhand, text justification 120 x 85mm, rubrics in red, one-line calligraphic initials in red, THREE- TO FIVE-LINE ILLUMINATED INITIALS THROUGHOUT in gold and orange casting shadows against grounds of red, blue, green, or light purple with liquid silver fronds, and accompanied by PART-BORDERS OF ACANTHUS OR NATURALISTIC LEAVES ENDING IN ANTIQUE DOLPHINS, MASKS, UNICORNS OR FLOWERS, all animated by birds, flies, butterflies, putti, or dragonflies, opening page with FULL-PAGE BORDER with strewn flowers, birds, and insects on a gold ground, in the lower border a panoramic landscape with ships (pale marginal spotting to a few leaves, a few marginal sprays trimmed). 16th-century red morocco with gilt centre- and corner-pieces, remains of green silk ties; gilt edges (a little worn at corners).

PROVENANCE:
1. The manuscript was specifically commissioned for an unidentified prince. An owl being dive-bombed by smaller birds appears three times in the borders, including on the opening leaf: it is possible that this is a badge or emblem of the patron.
2. H. F. von Aussem: his signature in an 18th- century hand on front endleaf. he also owned a German manuscript prayerbook now in The Hague (KB, 134 C 63).
3. Conrad Klermondt: 19th-century inscription on front endleaf.

CONTENT:
The manuscript opens with a prayer to God the Father ('Allmechtiger warer ewiger lebendiger Gott') where the prince confesses his sins throughout the course of his life, from youth onwards, and throught his reign ('unnd bekenn mit demutigen erschlagenem Gaist alle meine sunden unnd ubertzettungen die ich von meiner Jugent her Inn all meinem lebenn auch Inn meiner Regierung'), asking for forgiveness and assistance in this dangerous time where Christianity is attacked from inside and outside ('Mein Herz und mein Gott wollest mir sie gnedigclich vertzeihen und vergeben und mir deinen heiligen Geist vatterlichen mitteilen der mich inn diesen letsten gefehrlichen Zeiten inn der deine arme Christenheit jammerlich innen und aussen angefochten ist'), praying for God to lead and guide him through his reign ('Inn aller meiner Regierung fure und laite nach allem dennem willen zu deinem lob meiner und aller der meinen seelen heil').

This prayer is followed by words of comfort ('Volgen etliche Trostspruche uff die Bekantnus der Sundenn'), mainly quotations from the New Testament in addition to various prayers addressed to God the Father, to Christ, and to the Virgin. The Confession of Sins finishes with a prayer praising the comforting words of the New Testament ('Von der tröstlichen Zuesagung des newenn Testaments'), having sinned to pray with the help of this book, and to look for comfort and forgiveness in the New Testament ('Darumb wann du gesundigt hast und widerumb auff ein newes gefallen bist so lauff von stundan zu disem gnadenbundt unnd newen testament und hol alda vergebung der sunden'), for what counts is to believe in the comforting words and to take them as true ('das du seinen trostlichenn worten glaubest unnd sie fur warhafftig halltest'). Two prayers were added later at the end of the manuscript in different scripts, one for morning and one for evening.

The emphasis on the New Testament as a source of comfort to sinners places the manuscript firmly within the protestant movement.

SCRIPT AND ILLUMINATION:
The elegant light script with curling terminals and cadells is close to the type used in the Theuerdanck of 1517, commissioned by the German Emperor Maximilian I, which was perhaps designed by his personal secretary Vincenz Rockner. The so-called 'Theuerdanck-Fraktur' was one of several variations of Fraktur type that became popular during the Reformation.

The initials are equally elegant and finely executed, painted in rich saturated pigments lit and modelled with gold, combining opulent, fleshy acanthus with realistic flowers and lively birds and insects. The illusionistic border on the opening page is a type common in Nuremberg book illumination. The patron, the 'princely person', must have turned to the city -- itself a Freie Reichstadt subordinate only to the Holy Roman Emperor -- because of its high reputation as a centre for book-painting. Nuremberg was home to the Glockenden family, pre-eminent among German illuminators from the late 15th to the middle of the 16th century.

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