Week 11 The German Illustrated Book - A History of Graphic Design

A HISTORY OF
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Chapter 6 – The German Illustrated Book
SUMMARY
After Gutenberg’s invention of movable type, typographic
printing spread rapidly. By 1500, printing was practiced
in over 140 towns in Europe. Even though a vast
array of ephemera, including religious tracts, pamphlets,
and broadsides, was printed during this period, this
chapter focuses primarily on the design and typography
of the illustrated book and the people who contributed to
its advancement. Books printed from Gutenberg’s invention
of typography until the end of the fifteenth century
are referred to as incunabula.
Design innovation took place in Germany, where
Albrecht Pfister, Günther Zainer, and Johann Zainer illustrated
books with woodblock prints. In contrast to the
theological and scholarly books published by most other
early printers, Pfister and others printed popular literature.
Günther Zainer introduced a greater tonal range to
page design by creating woodcuts with textured areas
and some solid blacks. Johann Zainer’s illustrations used
a very even line weight; his capital initials were printed
rather than added later by hand, and he experimented
with enclosing only a portion of the illustration in a rectangular
border to allow white space to flow from wide
margins into the pictures. This light design effect was
complemented by simple outline initials. Erhard Reuwich
was the first illustrator to be recognized as such in a
book. He introduced the crosshatch technique and was
the first to use foldout illustrations.
By the end of the fifteenth century, Nuremberg housed
Germany’s most esteemed printer, Anton Koberger, who
produced one of the masterpieces of incunabula-period
graphic design, the 600-page Nuremberg Chronicle, an
ambitious history of the world from the biblical dawn
of creation until 1493. Michael Wolgemuth and Wilhelm
Pleydenwurff were contracted to create the exemplars;
draw, cut, and correct 1,809 illustrations; and prepare the
woodblocks for printing. The dense texture and rounded
strokes of Koberger’s sturdy Gothic types contrast handsomely
with the tones of the woodcuts.
Anton Koberger was godfather to Albrecht Dürer and
Dürer was apprenticed to Wolgemuth for almost four
years. Most likely the young Dürer assisted in the layout
and illustration of the Nuremberg Chronicle. Later, Dürer
published and illustrated his own remarkable books,
such as The Apocalypse, which featured Koberger’s
type and fifteen of Dürer’s woodcuts, which achieved
unprecedented emotional power and graphic expressiveness.
Dürer’s braodsides were very popular, and at
least eight editions of his Rhinoceros went out of print.
Dürer spent time in Venice studying painting theory and
technique as well as humanist philosophy of the Italian
Renaissance, and he became a major influence in the
cultural exchange that saw the Renaissance spirit filter
into Germany. He believed German artists and craftsmen
lacked theoretical knowledge, and this inspired his
book Underweisung der Messung mit dem Zirckel und
Richtscheyt (A Course in the Art of Measurement with of
Compass and Ruler). This influential book contained theoretical
discussions of linear geometry and two-dimensional
geometric construction, and included a chapter
explaining the application of geometry to architecture,
decoration, engineering, and letterforms. His beautifully
proportioned Roman capitals contributed significantly to
the evolution of alphabet design.
Other developments in Germany included one of the earliest
examples of the Gothic type style known as Fraktur,
in which some of the rigid, angular straight lines found
in textura letterforms were replaced by flowing, curved
strokes. Also noteworthy are the broadsides produced by
Lucas Cranach the Elder and his sons Hans Cranach and
Lucas Cranach the Younger, which covered a wide variety
of themes.
Meanwhile in Italy, England, France, and Spain, graphic
designers were leaving their mark. In Italy, the letter
styles and format design inherited from illuminated
manuscripts gave way to a design approach unique to
the typographic book. Type designers Conrad Sweynheym
and Arnold Pannartz were invited to Italy
to establish a press and to publish Latin classics and
writings by their employer Cardinal Turrecremata of the
Benedictine monastery at Subiaco. The type designed by
Sweynheym and Pannartz marked the first step toward
a Roman-style typography based on letterforms that had
been developed by Italian scribes. They combined the
capital letters from Roman inscriptions with the rounded
miniscules that had evolved from the Caroline miniscule,
which had been rediscovered while they were in Italy.
William Caxton learned printing in Cologne and while
living in Bruges printed the first typographic English-lan-

A HISTORY OF
GRAPHIC DESIGN
guage book. Upon returning to England, he established
the first press on English soil and printed the first book
in England. In France, Philippe Pigouchet introduced
criblé, a technique in which the black areas of a woodblock
are punched with white dots, and three German
printers—Michael Freiburger, Ulrich Gehring, and Martin
Kranz—were brought to the Sorbonne to establish a
press. Spain also received three German printers. A
particular masterpiece of Spanish typographic design
is Arñao Guillen de Brocar’s Polyglot Bible, which was
designed to accommodate text in five languages and
resulted in five simultaneous typographic presentations.
Typography played a pivotal role in the social, economic,
and religious upheavals that occurred during the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Typography radically
altered education as learning became an increasingly
private, rather than communal, process. Typography led
people toward linear thought, logic, and empirical scientific
inquiry, and fostered individualism.
KEY TERMS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE; THE FIRST PAGE NUMBER OF THEIR APPEARANCE IS LISTED)
Incunabula, page 80, (“cradle” or “baby linen”): Its connotations of birth and beginnings caused seventeenth-century
writers to adopt it as a name for books printed from Gutenberg’s invention of typography until the end of the fifteenth
century.
Broadsides, page 80, single-leaf pages printed on one side, which eventually evolved into printed posters, advertisements,
and newspapers.
Incipit, page 81, “here begins,” usually placed at the beginning of manuscripts.
Ex libris, page 80, a bookplate pasted into the front of a book to identify its owner (Fig. 6-1).
Nuremburg, page 83, Central Europe’s prosperous center of commerce and distribution, which also became the center
for printing by the end of the fifteenth century.
Exemplars, page 84, handmade model layouts and manuscript texts used as guides for the woodcut illustrations, typesetting,
page design, and makeup of books (Figs. 6-14 and 6-15).
Broadsheet, page 90, single-leaf pages printed on both sides, which eventually evolved into printed posters, advertisements,
and newspapers.
Criblé, page 95, a technique in which the black areas of a woodblock are punched with white dots, giving the page a
lively tonality (Fig. 6-34).
Polyglot, page 97, written in several languages (Fig. 6-36).
KEY PEOPLE (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE; THE FIRST PAGE NUMBER OF THEIR APPEARANCE IS LISTED)
Martin Luther (c. 1483–1546), page 81, After he posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg,
Saxony on October 31, 1517, his friends passed copies on to printers. By December, his proclamation had spread
throughout central Europe and within a few months, thousands of people all over Europe knew his views.
Albrecht Pfister, page 81, a Bamberg printer who began to illustrate his books with woodblock prints. He used five
woodblocks and the types from Gutenberg’s thirty-six-line Bible to print his first edition of Johannes von Tepl’s Der
Ackerman aus Böhmen (Death and the Plowman) (Fig. 6-2).
Günther Zainer, page 81, a scribe and illuminator who had learned printing in Strasbourg and who established a press
in Augsburg. An agreement allowed Zainer to use woodblock illustrations as long as he commissioned them from
members of the woodcutter’s guild. He introduced a greater tonal range to page design by using woodcuts with textured
areas and some solid blacks (Figs. 6-3 and 6-4).

A HISTORY OF
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Johann Zainer, page 81, established a press in Ulm about 70 kilometers (43 miles) to the east of his brother, Günther
Zainer. Elegant hand-colored woodcut borders are used in Johann Zainer’s 1473 edition of Petrach’s Historia Griseldis,
and 175 woodcuts in his 1476 edition of Aesop’s Vita et fabulae. (Life and Tales). Many of his illustrations are not completely
enclosed with rectangular borders, allowing white space to flow from the wide margins into the pictures (Figs.
6-5 and 6-6).
Erhard Reuwich, page 83, the first illustrator to be identified as such in a book, for his work in Peregrinationes in Montem
Syon (Travels in Mount Syon), which was printed with Schoeffer’s types in 1486. He was a careful observer of nature
who introduced crosshatch in his illustrations, which included regional maps, significant buildings, and views of major
cities. This book was the first to have foldout illustrations (Figs. 6-7 and 6-8).
Anton Koberger (c. 1440–1513), page 83, Germany’s most esteemed printer, with a firm staffed by one hundred craftsmen
operating twenty-four presses. He printed over two hundred editions, including fifteen Bibles. Although smaller
page sizes were more convenient and affordable, he continued to publish and sell large books. He produced three masterpieces,
including the 1491 Schatzbehalter (Treasure Trove) and the six-hundred-page Liber Chronicarum (Nuremberg
Chronicle) in both German and Latin versions. (Figs. 6-9 through 6-12, 6-14, 6-16, and 6-17).
Michael Wolgemuth (1434–1519), page 84, a painter and woodcut illustrator who created ninety-two full-page woodcuts
for Anton Koberger’s 1491 Schatzbehalter (Treasure Trove) and was contracted to create the exemplars for the Nuremberg
Chronicle, draw the illustrations, and cut, correct, and prepare the woodblocks for printing (Figs. 6-11 and 6-12).
Wilhelm Pleydenwurff (d. 1494), page 84, Michael Wolgemuth’s step-son who was contracted by Anton Koberger to help
create the exemplars for the Nuremberg Chronicle, draw the illustrations, and cut, correct, and prepare the woodblocks
for printing (Figs. 6-16 and 6-17).
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), page 86, Godson of Anton Koberger, his goldsmith father apprenticed him to Michael
Wolgemuth for almost four years beginning in 1486. He published Latin and German editions of The Apocalypse illustrated
by his monumental sequence of fifteen woodcuts that had an unprecedented emotional power and graphic
expressiveness. He also published two other large-format volumes, the Large Passion and The Life of the Virgin, and at
least eight editions of his Rhinoceros broadside. He believed German artists and craftsmen were producing work inferior
to that of the Italians, which inspired his first book, Underweisung der Messung mit dem Zirckel und Richtscheyt (A
Course in the Art of Measurement with Compass and Ruler), in 1525 (Figs. 6-18 through 6-21).
Hans Schäufelein, (1480–1540), page 88, one of Dürer’s former students commissioned to design the illustrations for
Pfintzing’s Teuerdank, an adventure of chivalry and knighthood that was printed by Johann Schoensperger the Elder at
Nuremberg in 1517 (Fig. 6-22).
Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), page 90, operated a printing office, a bookshop, and a paper mill. He turned his
considerable energies to the Reformation by portraying the Reformers and their cause in books and broadsides including
portraits of Martin Luther proclaiming his beliefs. He also printed the Passional Christi und Antichristi (Passional of
Christ and Antichrist), which was inspired by Luther (Figs. 6-23 and 6-24).
Hans Cranach (d. 1537) and Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515–1586), page 90, sons of Lucas Cranach the Elder, they
joined their father’s studio. Few examples of Hans’s work remain, but the younger son continued to work in the family
style for many years after his father’s death (Figs. 6-25 and 6-26).
Conrad Sweynheym (d. 1477) and Arnold Pannartz (d. 1476), page 91, printers invited to Subiaco by Cardinal Turrecremata
of the Benedictine monastery at Subiaco to establish a press. They worked together to design types that marked
the first step toward a Roman-style typography based on letterforms that had been developed by Italian scribes. They
created a typographic “double alphabet” by combining the capital letters of ancient Roman inscriptions with the rounded
minuscules that had evolved in Italy from the Caroline minuscule. They designed a more fully Roman alphabet that
became the prototype for the Roman alphabets still in use today (Figs. 6-28 and 6-29).
William Caxton (c. 1421–1491), page 91, left his native land for the textile center of Bruges in the Low Countries, where
he set up his own business as a merchant and diplomat. He spent a year and a half in Cologne, where he translated the
Recuyell of the Histories of Troy from French into English and learned printing. He enlisted the help of the illuminator

A HISTORY OF
GRAPHIC DESIGN
and calligrapher Colard Mansion and set up a press in Bruges where they printed the first typographic English-language
book. Later he moved his types and press across the English Channel and established the first press on English
soil (Figs. 6-30 through 6-32).
Phillipe Pigouchet, page 95, introduced the criblé technique. His Horae (Book of Hours) established the graphic excellence
of this popular book form (Figs. 6-33 and 6-34).