signed first edition Hardcover
1556 · Strasbourg
by Wickram, Georg (c. 1500—1562)
Strasbourg, 1556. FIRST EDITION (a second edition was printed in 1557). Hardcover. Fine. Bound in 16th c. blind-stamped pigskin (a remboîtage), dated and signed H.M. 1556 (boards soiled and lightly stained, small defects to binding.) The blind-stamps include medallion portraits (one of them Calvin), the risen Christ, the Crucifixion, etc. A fine copy of the text. Light soiling to the title, light damp-stain to lower margin of the first and eighth gathering, and in the outer margin of the final gathering, tiny wormhole in the margin of the closing leaves. Illustrated with 18 woodcuts (3 of them repeats). Extremely rare. I have not located any copy of this or the 1557 edition in North America. First edition of this sprawling narrative poem, “Der Irr Reitende Pilger” (The Errant Pilgrim) by Georg Wickram of Colmar, a prolific poet, dramatist, novelist, songwriter, and translator, who founded a Meistersinger school in his native Colmar in 1549. The book was printed “in Knobloch’s Printshop” by Georg Messerschmidt, who had worked for Johann Knobloch as a printer, later becoming his partner and, after Knobloch’s death, owner of the press.
In his adventure poem “The Errant Pilgrim”, Wickram weaves together, within the framework of a travelogue, elements of satire, allegory, moralizing didacticism, utopianism, and folk tales. The book opens with a conversation between the heartbroken protagonist, Arnolt, and two allegorical figures: Death, who has taken his wife, and Frau Stunde (Mrs. Hour), Death’s agent. What follows is an adventure in which Arnolt takes up a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in hopes of finding his son.
In the course of the poem, Wickram addresses the problems of the world -from religious issues to the ravages of war, makes observations on human behavior, such as drunkenness, poorly behaved children, etc. and presents a vision of a utopian refuge, in which one is surrounded by a harmonious family, art, and beautiful gardens.
The woodcuts illustrate episodes from the protagonist’s adventures. The first two show the bereaved man speaking with Death and Frau Stunde. Others recall genre scenes: the pilgrim admiring his host’s library-study and his gardens; feasting with his host and his family -while their dog begs by the table, attending a church picnic where libations flow freely, being attacked by brigands in a dark wood, visiting an abbot’s idyllic pleasure garden (with its fountains and ponds, fish and game.) A number are interior scenes, including one of a tanner’s shop, with hides hanging above the dining table and unruly children vexing their parents.
“The introduction consists of two conversations between a sad widower, named Arnolt of Prague, and Death, who has robbed him of his wife, and Mrs. Hour, Death's 'instrument'… Arnolt seeks solitude and moves with his son Trutprecht to his country house outside the city, where he enjoys his books and his garden. In the long run, however, the son cannot endure this withdrawn life; he asks his father for leave to see the world and rides away. Afterwards, old Arnolt is seized with fear for his son and decides to follow him. Since he does not know his route, he hopes (quite rashly by our standards) to find him again when he undertakes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
“He goes astray twice; first he finds the model of a civilized Protestant family on a lonely farm, then he is taken prisoner by the same robber baron for whom Arnolt’s son Trutprecht was forced to go into service. The knight, who is described as very soft-hearted, treats him leniently and lets him go along with his son and a merchant who is also a prisoner. All three are well received in a monastery headed by a relative of the merchant, and the enlightened abbot, who is very frank in his opinions about pilgrimage sites, including Rome, convinces Arnolt to abandon his plan and return home with Trutprecht.
“The literary form of the travel novel, which Wickram was familiar with, allowed the insertion of all kinds of episodes, such as Trutprecht's encounter with a defiant young nobleman or Arnolt's visit to the church fair; however, a certain tendency against pilgrimages is unmistakable, and Bolte (“Georg Wickrams Werke”. Bd. 4) attributes this to the influence of Erasmus, who is also quoted by Wickram elsewhere and who is probably portrayed in the figure of the learned Dutchman in the neighboring country… Arnolt complains about the political turmoil of his time… Using the popular image of the exiled virtues, he describes the encroaching brutality of the world and envisions an ideal, peaceful existence, far removed from the outside world, where one is focused on family, raising one’s children, art, and gardening.
“Arnolt's garden and that of the abbot are described in striking detail, as are the paintings that decorate the pleasure house and the garden walls. The paintings in the garden depict three Ovidian fables: Vertumnus and Pomona, Perseus and Atlas, and Chiron and Apollo, all of which were illustrated in Wickram’s adaptation of Albrecht von Haiberstadt's Ovid (Mainz, 1545).”(Partly translated and partly adapted from Bolte, “Georg Wickrams Werke”. Bd. 4, p. XXXVI-XLIV). (Inventory #: 5183)
In his adventure poem “The Errant Pilgrim”, Wickram weaves together, within the framework of a travelogue, elements of satire, allegory, moralizing didacticism, utopianism, and folk tales. The book opens with a conversation between the heartbroken protagonist, Arnolt, and two allegorical figures: Death, who has taken his wife, and Frau Stunde (Mrs. Hour), Death’s agent. What follows is an adventure in which Arnolt takes up a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in hopes of finding his son.
In the course of the poem, Wickram addresses the problems of the world -from religious issues to the ravages of war, makes observations on human behavior, such as drunkenness, poorly behaved children, etc. and presents a vision of a utopian refuge, in which one is surrounded by a harmonious family, art, and beautiful gardens.
The woodcuts illustrate episodes from the protagonist’s adventures. The first two show the bereaved man speaking with Death and Frau Stunde. Others recall genre scenes: the pilgrim admiring his host’s library-study and his gardens; feasting with his host and his family -while their dog begs by the table, attending a church picnic where libations flow freely, being attacked by brigands in a dark wood, visiting an abbot’s idyllic pleasure garden (with its fountains and ponds, fish and game.) A number are interior scenes, including one of a tanner’s shop, with hides hanging above the dining table and unruly children vexing their parents.
“The introduction consists of two conversations between a sad widower, named Arnolt of Prague, and Death, who has robbed him of his wife, and Mrs. Hour, Death's 'instrument'… Arnolt seeks solitude and moves with his son Trutprecht to his country house outside the city, where he enjoys his books and his garden. In the long run, however, the son cannot endure this withdrawn life; he asks his father for leave to see the world and rides away. Afterwards, old Arnolt is seized with fear for his son and decides to follow him. Since he does not know his route, he hopes (quite rashly by our standards) to find him again when he undertakes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
“He goes astray twice; first he finds the model of a civilized Protestant family on a lonely farm, then he is taken prisoner by the same robber baron for whom Arnolt’s son Trutprecht was forced to go into service. The knight, who is described as very soft-hearted, treats him leniently and lets him go along with his son and a merchant who is also a prisoner. All three are well received in a monastery headed by a relative of the merchant, and the enlightened abbot, who is very frank in his opinions about pilgrimage sites, including Rome, convinces Arnolt to abandon his plan and return home with Trutprecht.
“The literary form of the travel novel, which Wickram was familiar with, allowed the insertion of all kinds of episodes, such as Trutprecht's encounter with a defiant young nobleman or Arnolt's visit to the church fair; however, a certain tendency against pilgrimages is unmistakable, and Bolte (“Georg Wickrams Werke”. Bd. 4) attributes this to the influence of Erasmus, who is also quoted by Wickram elsewhere and who is probably portrayed in the figure of the learned Dutchman in the neighboring country… Arnolt complains about the political turmoil of his time… Using the popular image of the exiled virtues, he describes the encroaching brutality of the world and envisions an ideal, peaceful existence, far removed from the outside world, where one is focused on family, raising one’s children, art, and gardening.
“Arnolt's garden and that of the abbot are described in striking detail, as are the paintings that decorate the pleasure house and the garden walls. The paintings in the garden depict three Ovidian fables: Vertumnus and Pomona, Perseus and Atlas, and Chiron and Apollo, all of which were illustrated in Wickram’s adaptation of Albrecht von Haiberstadt's Ovid (Mainz, 1545).”(Partly translated and partly adapted from Bolte, “Georg Wickrams Werke”. Bd. 4, p. XXXVI-XLIV). (Inventory #: 5183)
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