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DRER, Albrecht (1471-1528). Hierinn sind begriffin vier bcher von menschlicher Proportion. Edited by Willibald Pirckheimer. Nuremberg: Hieronymus Andreas Formschneider for Drer's widow, 31 October 1528.
2o (282 x 217 mm). Collation: A-M6 N4 O4(O1 + 1 fold-out sheet signed "O2", O2 and O3 signed "O3" and "O4") P-R6 S4(S3 + 2 fold-out sheets signed "S4" and "S5") T4 V-X6 Y4(Y2 + 1 fold-out sheet signed "Y3") Z6. 128 leaves plus 4 fold-out sheets printed on both sides. Drer's large woodcut monogram on title, approximately 136 full-length proportional woodcuts of human figures and geometrical or proportional woodcut diagrams, some of individual body parts, fraktur initials, woodcut flourished tailpiece ornaments. The cuts on fold-out sheet "Y3"v and fol. Y3r lightly colored in outline. (Staining and marginal worming to first few leaves, severe discoloration to fols. A6 and B4-6, repaired tears to folding plates "O2" and "S5", fol. V6 extensively repaired and reinforced with heavy paper, blank lower margins of V3-V5 strengthened, minor shaving to woodcuts or captions on folding plates "S4", "S5" and "Y3".) Modern speckled calf preserving 18th-century blind-stamped calf spine, speckled edges, contemporary vellum index tabs (worm damage and a few small chips to covers, morocco shelf-mark label on spine). Provenance: Two deleted inscriptions on title; the woodcuts on B4v and V6r-v ruled in red with graph numbers in brown ink for transfer, 2 or 3 marginalia (cropped) in an early hand, occasional red underlining; 18th-century foliation continuing through the two other works.
FIRST EDITION. Although published posthumously, Drer's treatise on human proportion was the earliest of the three theoretical works written in his latter years. Drer began formulating mathematical rules for the proportions of the human form soon after his first trip to Venice in 1494-5. For his mathematical formulations he drew upon the works of antiquity as well as the Italian rediscoveries; as for his other theoretical works, his goal was to establish a scientific basis for aesthetics and to provide practical guidelines for draftsmanship. "The book is the synthesis of Drer's solutions to his self-imposed formal problems; in it he sets forth his formal aesthetic... Drer's aesthetic rules are based firmly in the laws of optics--indeed, he even designed special mechanical instruments to aid in the measurement of human form. He used the height of the human body as the basic unit of measurement..." (DSB). Book IV is of the greatest interest as it presents for the first time many "new, difficult, and intricate considerations of descriptive spatial geometry... Drer's chief accomplishment as outlined in the Vier Bcher is that in rendering figures...he first solved the problem of establishing a canon, then considered the transformation of forms within that canon... In so doing he considered the spatial relations of form and the motions of form within space" (DSB).
Bohatta 17; Choulant-Frank, pp. 143-144; Garrison-Morton 149; Meder Drer-Katalog XXIX 1; NLM/Durling 1295; Norman 666; Stillwell Science 622.
[Bound with:]
DRER. Underweysung der messung, mit dem zirckel und richtscheyt in Linien ebnen unnd gantzen corporen. Nuremberg: [Hieronymus Andreas Formschneider], 1525.
2o. Collation: A-N6 O-Q4. 90 leaves (the last blank). Bohatta's first state of the title. Numerous woodcuts of geometrical diagrams and architectural renderings, two, on P4v and Q1r, extended with pasted-in folding slips to demonstrate a point in perspective, two figures on C5v and K1r printed on pasted-in cancel slips correcting the original figures; roman and gothic alphabets; and two half-page woodcuts showing artists using Drer's drafting apparatus for drawing in perspective, the second with Drer's monogram and dated 1525 (as are 2 of the triumphal column cuts). The woodcuts of triumphal columns and a column base on H6v and I1r-v with early coloring, touch of coloring to the last cut (Q3r). (Woodcuts on H2v-H3r slightly cropped, marginal repairs to L3-L4 and Q4, occasional soiling or foxing.)
FIRST EDITION of the first of Drer's theoretical writings to be published, and one of the first mathematical works published in German. Specifically intended for practicing artists but equally useful for the applied arts -- architecture, stonemasonry, lettering, ornamentation -- Drer's treatise on mensuration introduced to Northern Europe the principles and practices of a system of projection that had been refined by the artists of the Italian Renaissance. In it he formulated a mathematically sound basis for the realistic depiction of objects in space, and thus for the new aesthetics of the Renaissance, which equated artistic beauty with the correct representation of the natural world. "In the illustration of these principles lies the great historical importance of Drer's theoretical writings... They were the foundation of accepted aesthetic dogma until the nineteenth century" (PMM).
Adams D-1057 (describing the Befestigung der Stett as Part II); Berlin-Katalog 4607; Bohatta Ia; Meder XXVI 1; Norman 665; PMM 54; Stillwell Science 161.
[Bound with:]
DRER. Etliche underricht, zu befestigung der Stett, Schlosz, und Flecken. Nuremberg: [Hieronymus Andreas Formschneider], October 1527.
2o. Collation: A4(A3 + fold-out sheet signed "A3", A2 and A3 signed "A1" and "A2") B4(B1 and B3 = fold-out sheets) C6(C1 and C3 = fold-out sheets) D4(D2 + fold-out sheet) E4(E1 and E3 = fold-out sheets) F4(F1 and F3 = fold-out sheets). 17 leaves (of 18, without F4 blank) plus 10 fold-out sheets printed on both sides. Title with large woodcut arms of Ferdinand I, 20 woodcut illustrations or diagrams of fortifications, woodcut fraktur initials. A few woodcuts, including the title cut, partially touched up in color. 31-line errata on F3r. (Fold-out sheet C3 defective, repaired tears to fold-out sheets B3, C1 and E3, title cut shaved at top, cropping to woodcuts on F1 and folding sheet following D2, repairs to lower blank margins of F1,2 and gutter of F3, some staining, marginal worming at end.)
FIRST EDITION. This treatise on the fortification of city, castle and marketplace was a practical work, inspired by the menace of a Turkish invasion. "As well as summarizing the science of fortification it contains some of Drer's chief architectural work... Many of his ideas were put to use..." (DSB). Two variant issues, with a 30-line errata, and without the errata and the errors in the text corrected, are known. A minority of copies of this probable first issue contain an extra folding sheet with a monogrammed woodcut dated 1527 showing a fortress under siege (not present here). Adams D-1057 (as Part II of the Underweysung); Fairfax-Murray German 151 ("second edition"); Bohatta 11a; Cockle 766; Meder XXVIII 1; Stillwell Science 835.
2
FIRST EDITION. Although published posthumously, Drer's treatise on human proportion was the earliest of the three theoretical works written in his latter years. Drer began formulating mathematical rules for the proportions of the human form soon after his first trip to Venice in 1494-5. For his mathematical formulations he drew upon the works of antiquity as well as the Italian rediscoveries; as for his other theoretical works, his goal was to establish a scientific basis for aesthetics and to provide practical guidelines for draftsmanship. "The book is the synthesis of Drer's solutions to his self-imposed formal problems; in it he sets forth his formal aesthetic... Drer's aesthetic rules are based firmly in the laws of optics--indeed, he even designed special mechanical instruments to aid in the measurement of human form. He used the height of the human body as the basic unit of measurement..." (DSB). Book IV is of the greatest interest as it presents for the first time many "new, difficult, and intricate considerations of descriptive spatial geometry... Drer's chief accomplishment as outlined in the Vier Bcher is that in rendering figures...he first solved the problem of establishing a canon, then considered the transformation of forms within that canon... In so doing he considered the spatial relations of form and the motions of form within space" (DSB).
Bohatta 17; Choulant-Frank, pp. 143-144; Garrison-Morton 149; Meder Drer-Katalog XXIX 1; NLM/Durling 1295; Norman 666; Stillwell Science 622.
[Bound with:]
DRER. Underweysung der messung, mit dem zirckel und richtscheyt in Linien ebnen unnd gantzen corporen. Nuremberg: [Hieronymus Andreas Formschneider], 1525.
2
FIRST EDITION of the first of Drer's theoretical writings to be published, and one of the first mathematical works published in German. Specifically intended for practicing artists but equally useful for the applied arts -- architecture, stonemasonry, lettering, ornamentation -- Drer's treatise on mensuration introduced to Northern Europe the principles and practices of a system of projection that had been refined by the artists of the Italian Renaissance. In it he formulated a mathematically sound basis for the realistic depiction of objects in space, and thus for the new aesthetics of the Renaissance, which equated artistic beauty with the correct representation of the natural world. "In the illustration of these principles lies the great historical importance of Drer's theoretical writings... They were the foundation of accepted aesthetic dogma until the nineteenth century" (PMM).
Adams D-1057 (describing the Befestigung der Stett as Part II); Berlin-Katalog 4607; Bohatta Ia; Meder XXVI 1; Norman 665; PMM 54; Stillwell Science 161.
[Bound with:]
DRER. Etliche underricht, zu befestigung der Stett, Schlosz, und Flecken. Nuremberg: [Hieronymus Andreas Formschneider], October 1527.
2
FIRST EDITION. This treatise on the fortification of city, castle and marketplace was a practical work, inspired by the menace of a Turkish invasion. "As well as summarizing the science of fortification it contains some of Drer's chief architectural work... Many of his ideas were put to use..." (DSB). Two variant issues, with a 30-line errata, and without the errata and the errors in the text corrected, are known. A minority of copies of this probable first issue contain an extra folding sheet with a monogrammed woodcut dated 1527 showing a fortress under siege (not present here). Adams D-1057 (as Part II of the Underweysung); Fairfax-Murray German 151 ("second edition"); Bohatta 11a; Cockle 766; Meder XXVIII 1; Stillwell Science 835.