Astrolabium Planum of Heidelberg
The Astrolabium Planum of Heidelberg is surely one of the most famous manuscripts in the history of illumination! Probably originating in Regensburg ca. 1491, the Astrolabium Planum of Heidelberg was the commission of a wealthy patron, presumably Philip the Upright, Elector Palatine and his wife Margaret of Bavaria-Landshut. The Regensburg master Berthold Furtmeyr and his workshop made the completed the manuscriptâs artistic furnishings, a gorgeous rotatable astrolabe. The various astronomical-astrological treatise, which are assembled here with high-quality illustrations allow for an inside view into this wondrous and interesting theme of the 15th century.
Astrolabium Planum of Heidelberg
The Astrolabium Planum of Heidelberg is surely one of the most famous manuscripts in the history of illumination! Probably originating in Regensburg ca. 1491, the Astrolabium Planum of Heidelberg was the commission of a wealthy patron, presumably Philip the Upright, Elector Palatine and his wife Margaret of Bavaria-Landshut. The Regensburg master Berthold Furtmeyr and his workshop made the completed the manuscriptâs artistic furnishings, a gorgeous rotatable astrolabe. The various astronomical-astrological treatise, which are assembled here with high-quality illustrations allow for an inside view into this wondrous and interesting theme of the 15th century.
A Coveted Collectible
The Astrolabium Planum of Heidelberg is named after its current â and historic! â repository: the UniversitĂ€t Heidelbergâs library, the successor of the famous Biblioteca Palatina**. The unique manuscript originated in Regensburg ca. 1491, presumably at the behest of Philip the Upright, Elector Palatine and his wife, Margaret of Bavaria-Landshut, which is indicated in the book by the escutcheons of the Palatine and Bavaria. The bibliophile jewel already found itself in the possession of Pope Gregory XV (1554â1623) in the following century. From there it came to the Biblioteca Palatina in Heidelberg. Coming into papal possession in turn after 1623 â Gregory XV â the manuscript returned to its former locale in Heidelberg, the Biblioteca Palatina, in 1816.
Astrological Scholarship
Cod. Pal. Germ. 832 of the university library in Heidelberg counts among the most significant manuscripts of the 15th century. The famous Astrolabium Planum of Heidelbergcombines various astronomical-astrological texts on 542 pages, including an astrological hunting treatise, the geomancy of Johannes Hartlieb, and an astrological calendar. Additionally, it provides various calendar information for the calculation of the correct date for bloodletting or the phases of the moon, for example. Human destiny can also be calculated with the help of the constellations!
An Artistic Gem
This text on astronomy and astrology with instructions on the use of the tables and aids presented was decorated in an impressively artistic manner in the Heidelberg manuscript. The altogether 380 miniatures are a work of the Regensburg miniaturist Berthold Furtmeyr and his workshop. Originating from the masterâs hand, inter alia, is an exceptional feature of the manuscript: a flat, rotatable astrolabe painted in opaque colors on a gold background for the calculation of cosmic constellations. The gorgeous miniatures, e.g. of zodiac signs, but also of complex tables and instructions, are mostly mustered against a gold background. They lend the famous Astrolabium Planum of Heidelberg its unique and prominent position within the history of illumination!
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Astrolabium planum in tabulis
Heidelberger Schicksalsbuch
Heidelberg's Book of Fate - Size / Format
- 542 pages / 36.0 Ă 26.0 cm
- Origin
- Germany
- Date
- Around 1491
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Illustrations
- 380 miniatures in square form for illustration of zodiac signs and other astrological themes
- Content
- Astrological calendar with treatments on topics of astrology and astronomy
- Patron
- Philip the Upright, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (1448â1508) and his wife Margaret of Bavaria (1456â1501)
- Artist / School
- Johannes Hartlieb and others (authors)
Workshop of Berthold Furtmeyr (illuminators) - Previous Owners
- Pope Gregory XV (1554â1623)
Biblioteca Palatina (Heidelberg, Germany)
Astrolabium Planum of Heidelberg
Gaining Wealth
Appearing under the sign of Virgo, two well-dressed merchants gesticulate toward one another as though they were negotiating. The man on the left is dressed in a green cloak with red boots and a hat while the bareheaded man on the right wearing a red-orange cloak holds a bulging bag of coins. They stand on a tiled floor before a brick wall with an embroidery hanging in front of it and the artist has created a window by applying gold leaf and then applying a diamond pattern to mimic the framework in which the glass is set.
Astrolabium Planum of Heidelberg
Cancer
At the top of the page, the zodiac symbol Cancer appears in a blue-framed miniature with a gold background. The three images below depict (from left to right): a woman standing in front of a wall covered with a brocade blanket and holding a flower, a woman sitting at a table with a man and caressing his shoulder, and an elaborately dressed hunter armed with a spear blowing his horn as his dog bounds alongside him.
The image on the bottom-left of the page shows a man and a woman standing in front of a gold leaf background and holding hands, possibly in a garden. On the right, two women stand in an interior room while the one dressed in pink rests a hand on her pregnant belly. The dark window indicates that it is night, unlike the other images on the page that have gold leaf backgrounds.
#1 Heidelberger Schicksalsbuch - De Luxe Edition
Language: German
(1,000⏠- 3,000âŹ)
#2 Heidelberger Schicksalsbuch - Standard Edition
Language: German
(under 1,000âŹ)
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Lebanon
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Palestine
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Russia
- Serbia
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Aboca Museum
- Ajuntament de Valencia
- Akademie Verlag
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega dâErasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Alkuin Verlag
- Almqvist & Wiksell
- Amilcare Pizzi
- Andreas & Andreas Verlagsbuchhandlung
- Archa 90
- Archiv Verlag
- Archivi Edizioni
- Arnold Verlag
- ARS
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Azimuth Editions
- Badenia Verlag
- BĂ€renreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Benziger Verlag
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- Boydell & Brewer
- Bramante Edizioni
- Bredius Genootschap
- Brepols Publishers
- British Library
- C. Weckesser
- Caixa Catalunya
- Canesi
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Caratzas Brothers, Publishers
- Carus Verlag
- Casamassima Libri
- Chavane Verlag
- Christian BrandstÀtter Verlag
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club BibliĂłfilo Versol
- Club du Livre
- CM Editores
- Collegium Graphicum
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- ComissaÌo Nacional para as ComemoraçoÌes dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- Corvina
- CTHS
- D. S. Brewer
- Damon
- De Agostini/UTET
- De Nederlandsche Boekhandel
- De Schutter
- Deuschle & Stemmle
- Deutscher Verlag fĂŒr Kunstwissenschaft
- DIAMM
- Droz
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Ediclube
- EdiçÔes Inapa
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Deuschle
- Edition Georg Popp
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Ăditions de l'Oiseau Lyre
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Casariego
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Editrice Antenore
- Editrice Velar
- Edizioni Edison
- Egeria, S.L.
- Eikon Editores
- Electa
- Emery Walker Limited
- EnciclopĂšdia Catalana
- Eos-Verlag
- Ephesus Publishing
- Eugrammia Press
- Extraordinary Editions
- Fackelverlag
- Facsimila Art & Edition
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Feuermann Verlag
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Friedrich Wittig Verlag
- FundaciĂłn Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- G. Braziller
- Gabriele Mazzotta Editore
- Gebr. Mann Verlag
- Gesellschaft fĂŒr graphische Industrie
- Getty Research Institute
- Giovanni Domenico de Rossi
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Guido Pressler
- Guillermo Blazquez
- Gustav Kiepenheuer
- H. N. Abrams
- Harrassowitz
- Helikon
- Hendrickson Publishers
- Henning Oppermann
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hoepli
- Hortus Deliciarum
- Houghton Library
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- ILte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Instituto Nacional de AntropologĂa e Historia
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Ellenico di Studi Bizantini e Postbizantini
- Istituto Geografico De Agostini
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- Italarte Art Establishments
- J. Thorbecke
- Jan Thorbecke Verlag
- Johnson Reprint Corporation
- Josef Stocker
- Josef Stocker-Schmid
- Jugoslavija
- Karl W. Hiersemann
- Kasper Straube
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- Kindler Verlag / Coron Verlag
- Kodansha International Ltd.
- Konrad Kölbl Verlag
- Kurt Wolff Verlag
- La Liberia dello Stato
- La Linea Editrice
- La Meta Editore
- Lambert Schneider
- Landeskreditbank Baden-WĂŒrttemberg
- Leo S. Olschki
- Les Incunables
- Library of Congress
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lichtdruck
- Lito Immagine Editore
- Lumen Artis
- Lund Humphries
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Maison des Sciences de l'homme et de la socieÌteÌ de Poitiers
- Manuscriptum
- Martinus Nijhoff
- Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd.
- MASA
- McGraw-Hill
- Militos
- Millennium Liber
- MĂŒller & Schindler
- Nahar and Steimatzky
- National Library of Wales
- Neri Pozza
- Nova Charta
- Oceanum Verlag
- Odeon
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Ăsterreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Oxford University Press
- Pageant Books
- Parzellers Buchverlag
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- Pattloch Verlag
- PIAF
- Pieper Verlag
- Plon-Nourrit et cie
- Prestel Verlag
- Princeton University Press
- Prisma Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- PropylÀen Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Recht-Verlag
- Reichert Verlag
- Reichsdruckerei
- Riehn & Reusch
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Rosenkilde and Bagger
- Roxburghe Club
- Salerno Editrice
- Sarajevo Svjetlost
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scolar Press
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo
- Sociedad Mexicana de AntropologĂa
- Soncin Publishing
- Sorli Ediciones
- Stainer and Bell
- Studer
- Styria Verlag
- Sumptibus Pragopress
- Szegedi TudomĂ nyegyetem
- Taberna Libraria
- Tarshish Books
- Taschen
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio CompañĂa Editorial
- Thames and Hudson
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- The Marquess of Normanby
- The Richard III and Yorkist History Trust
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- TREC Publishing House
- TRI Publishing Co.
- Trident Editore
- Typis Regiae Officinae Polygraphicae
- Union Verlag Berlin
- Universidad de Granada
- University of California Press
- University of Chicago Press
- Urs Graf
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- VCH, Acta Humaniora
- VDI Verlag
- VEB Deutscher Verlag fĂŒr Musik
- Verlag Anton Pustet / Andreas Verlag
- Verlag der MĂŒnchner Drucke
- Verlag fĂŒr Regionalgeschichte
- Verlag Styria
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- W. Turnowsky
- Waanders Printers
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Ăsterreich)
- Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft
- Wydawnictwo Dolnoslaskie
- Xuntanza Editorial
- ZakĆad Narodowy
- Zollikofer AG