„ […] The Nuremberg Chronicle […] is one of the most important and most beautiful books of the incunabula era. Both the Latin version […] and the German version […] were printed in the offices of Anton Koberger who owned one of Europe's largest printing houses of the period. […] Following medieval traditions, the author divides the history of mankind into seven ages: the first age extended from the creation to the deluge; the second from the deluge to the birth of Abraham, the third to the kingdom of David; the fourth covered the period […] to the Babylonian Captivity; the fifth to the birth of Christ; the sixth […] from the birth of Christ to the present; and the seventh dealt with the arrival of the Antichrist and the Last Judgment.", (Bernstein, 2002, p. 1422).
Annotated transcriptions from the Nuremberg Chronicle, fol. Ir to VIIr (Tab. 1), in Latin, Fol_1r_Lat-Fol_7r_Lat (Schedel, 1493), Early New High German, ENHG, Fol_1r_ENHG-Fol_7r_ENHG (Schedel & Alt, 1493, 1496, res.) and from the English translation by Hadavas (2023) in comparison, Fol_1r_cmp-Fol_7r_cmp.
Where the division of the paragraphs P in the comparative presentations is based on the ENHG version.
Table 1. Headings and contents of fol. Ir to fol. VIIr (Schedel, 1493).
page contents
Foliu[m] I recto Epitoma operu[m] sex dieru[m] de mu[n]di fabrica Prologus
Folium II recto
verso De opere prime diei.
Foliu[m] III recto De opere secunde diei.
verso De opere tercie diei.
Foliu[m] IIII recto De opere quarte diei.
verso De opere quinte diei.
Foliu[m] V recto De opere sexte diei.
verso De sanctificatione septime diei
Foliu[m] VI recto Queda[m] circa spera[m] planetaru[m] et orbiu[m] declara[n]da.
verso Prima etas mundi
Folium VII recto Etas prima mundi
Primarily influenced by Conrad Celtis (1459-1476), Martin Behaim (1459-1507), Johannes Müller (Regiomontanus, 1436-1476) and Johannes Werner (1468-1522), is the text mainly based on the Supplementum Chronicarum by Foresti (1492):
„ […] collectors of incunabula have often been attracted by the magnificent illustrations […] Brought to the general attention of English collectors in 1724 by Thomas Hearne […] ", (Cushing Duniway, 1941, p. 17).
Figure 1. Animated illustrations from the Nuremberg Chronicle, fol. Ir to VIr (Schedel, 1493).
In this context see also Haitz (1899), Schnieper (1950), Sladeczek (1965), Rücker (1988) or Green (2003), facsimile and translations are given by Schedel (2010), Zellmann-Roher and Hadavas (2011a, b, 2012a, b, res.); for a (full) raw transcripton of the ENHG text see Wikisource contributors (2025), c.f. given sources and tables (fol. Ir to VIIr).
On the interpretation of Latin abbreviations see e.g. Martin (1910), Lindsay (1915) or Cappelli (1928). For ENHG dictionaries see Goebel et al. (1989).
Bernstein, E. (2002). Review. Renaissance Quarterly, 55(4), 1422–24. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1262133
Cappelli, A. (1928). Lexicon Abbreviaturarum: Wörterbuch lateinischer und italienscher Abkürzungen. 2nd ed. Leipzig: Verlagsbuchhandlung von J. J. Weber. https://archive.org/details/LexiconAbbreviaturarum
Cushing Duniway, D. (1941). A Study of the Nuremberg Chronicle. The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 35(1), 17–34. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24296510
Foresti, G. F. (1492). Supplementum Chronicarum. Novariensis: Bernardinus Rizus. https://books.google.com/books?id=ei9TruMbYCkC&printsec=frontcover
Goebel, U., Lobenstein-Reichmann, A., & Reichmann, O. (1989). Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 12 Volumes. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://www.degruyter.com/serial/fnhdwb-b/html?lang=en#volumes
Green, J. P. (2003). The Nuremberg Chronicle and Its Readers: The Reception of Hartmann Schedel’s Liber Cronicarum. Illinois: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. https://books.google.com/books?id=tXC8HgAACAAJ
Hadavas, K. (2023). First English edition of the Nuremberg chronicle : being the Liber chronicarum of Dr. Hartmann Schedel. Edited by Hadavas, K. UW–Madison TEI edition. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries. https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/3SXNV3NHBQLFQ8J
Haitz, M. (1899). Hartmann Schedel’s Weltchronik. München: Lüneburg. https://books.google.com/books?id=bhdEtQEACAAJ
Lindsay, W. M. (1915). Notae Latinae: An Account of Abbreviation in Latin Mss. Of the Early Minuscule Period (c. 700-850). Cambridge: at the University Press. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021587716
Martin, C. T. (1910). The Record Interpreter : A Collection of Abbreviations, Latin Words and Names Used in English Historical Manuscripts and Records. 2nd ed. London: Stevens and sons, limited. https://archive.org/details/recordinterprete00martuoft
Rücker, E. (1988). Hartmann Schedels Weltchronik: das grösste Buchunternehmen der Dürer-Zeit : mit einem Katalog der Städteansichten. München: Prestel. https://books.google.com/books?id=CiujnAEACAAJ
Schedel, H. (1493). Liber chronicarum cum figuris et ymagibus ab inicio mundi. Nuremberge: Antonius Koberger. https://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0003/bsb00034024/images/index.html?id=00034024
———. (2010). Liber Chronicarum Reference Edition. Facsimile. Boston, MA: Selim S. Nahas Press. http://www.smithandpress.com/Our_Books.html
Schedel, H., & Alt, G. (tr.). (1493). Buch der Chroniken und geschichten mit figure und pildnüssen von anbegin der welt bis auf diese unsere Zeit. Nuremberge: Antonius Koberger. https://web.archive.org/web/20161003154613
———. (1496). Das buch Der croniken unnd geschichten mit figuren und pildnussen von Anbeginn der welt bis auff diese unsere Zeyt. Augsburg: Johann Schönsperger. https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-69075
Schnieper, X. (1950). Die Schedelsche Weltchronik: eine Einführung und Würdigung. In Mitteilungsblatt Der Schweizerischen Bibliophilen-Gesellschaft, 7:84–104. 3-4. Basel: Schweizerische Bibliophilen-Gesellschaft. https://doi.org/10.5169/SEALS-387655
Sladeczek, L. (1965). Albrecht Dürer und die Illustrationen zur Schedelchronik. 1st ed. Vol. 342. Studien Zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte. Baden-Baden/Strasbourg: Verlag Heitz GmbH. https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.37607
Wikisource contributors. (2025). Schedelsche Weltchronik. Retrieved 2025 from de.wikisource.org. https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Kategorie:Schedelsche_Weltchronik
Zellmann-Roher, M., & Hadavas, C. (2011a). Liber Chronicarum Translation. 1st ed. Vol. 1. Boston, MA: Selim S. Nahas Press. https://www.abebooks.com/9780983140726
———. (2011b). Liber Chronicarum Translation. 1st ed. Vol. 2. Boston, MA: Selim S. Nahas Press. https://www.abebooks.com/9780983140719
———. (2012a). Liber Chronicarum Translation. 1st ed. Vol. 3. Boston, MA: Selim S. Nahas Press. https://ocul-gue.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay
———. (2012b). Liber Chronicarum Translation. 1st ed. Vol. 4. Boston, MA: Selim S. Nahas Press. https://www.gettextbooks.com/isbn/9780983140740/