Bull's Head and Mermaid - The Bernstein Project - Österreichische ...
Bull's Head and Mermaid - The Bernstein Project - Österreichische ...
Bull's Head and Mermaid - The Bernstein Project - Österreichische ...
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quired by the Weingarten Abbey by way of the Cathedral<br />
of Constance library.<br />
At the beginning of the manuscript there are a few blank<br />
pages (sheets 1rv, 2v-10r). On these sheets the watermark<br />
type “Bull’s head with eyes, nose <strong>and</strong> mouth, single stem<br />
<strong>and</strong> seven-lobed flower” is immediately visible. Tracings of<br />
this watermark are particularly easy to make. For an identical<br />
form of this “Bull’s head” with its various embellishments,<br />
Gerhard Piccard refers to XII No. 981 in his Findbuch<br />
“Ochsenkopf”. This type of Bull’s head is documented as<br />
having been used in the years 1439 to 1443.<br />
This manuscript also contains pages with the watermark<br />
“H<strong>and</strong> with five-pointed star”, whose provenance Piccard<br />
posits as Upper Italy. Since it is identical to a watermark<br />
found in a court record dated to 1442, <strong>and</strong> taking the<br />
analysis of the Bull’s head watermark into consideration,<br />
Piccard has dated the manuscript to the period between<br />
1439 <strong>and</strong> 1442.<br />
Literature: Bautz, Felix Hemmerli(n); Buhl / Kurras, Die<br />
H<strong>and</strong>schriften der ehemaligen Hofbibliothek Stuttgart,<br />
Bd. 4,2.<br />
C.K. (C.P.-K.)<br />
IV 5 Distinctiones<br />
[1467–1469]<br />
Paper, 27 x 20 cm, 256 Sheets (here: Sheets 192r-197v)<br />
WLB Stuttgart HB VIII 1<br />
Sheet 197 (Watermark: “Coat of arms with lily”)<br />
This manuscript, in two h<strong>and</strong>s, was written in a typical<br />
“Humanistica” script. Of particular interest are the Greek<br />
words appended to the Latin text. <strong>The</strong> text contains texts<br />
by the philosopher <strong>and</strong> grammarian Nonius Marcellus, by<br />
Marcus Terentius Varro <strong>and</strong> by Sextus Pompeius Festus,<br />
who is found in records in France from the second century<br />
AD.<br />
Sheet 197 contains the conclusion of the so-called Distinctiones.<br />
This genre of text was used in scholastic theology<br />
<strong>and</strong> philosophy to analyze <strong>and</strong> note differences between<br />
opposing teachings <strong>and</strong> authorities based on the scholastic<br />
principle of “sic et non”. Piccard describes the text as having<br />
been written on paper made in eastern France containing,<br />
among others, a heraldry watermark – three lilies in a<br />
crowned shield – to which the sign of the paper’s producer<br />
is attached. Briquet lists this coat of arms under No. 1834,<br />
<strong>and</strong> describes it as being from Paris <strong>and</strong> Pontoise, both cases<br />
dating to 1468. In Piccard’s expertise on the manuscript,<br />
he identifies all the watermarks it contains (Ill. IV 5a) – in<br />
addition, the watermarks “Letter P”, “<strong>Mermaid</strong>” (siren)<br />
<strong>and</strong> “Letter B” – <strong>and</strong> dates it as having been written most<br />
probably between 1467 <strong>and</strong> 1469. <strong>The</strong> manuscript, on various<br />
papers from eastern <strong>and</strong> northern France, was most<br />
likely written entirely in France.<br />
Literature: Buhl, Die H<strong>and</strong>schriften der ehemaligen Hofbibliothek<br />
Stuttgart, Bd. 4,1.<br />
C.K. (C.P.-K.)<br />
IV 6a<br />
IV 6 <strong>The</strong> Stuttgart Deck of Cards<br />
[about 1430]<br />
Paper, 49 cards with miniatures, 19 x 12 cm<br />
Facsimile from the Deutsches Spielkartenmuseum<br />
Leinfelden-Echterdingen<br />
(selection)<br />
<strong>The</strong> “Stuttgart Deck of Cards” is considered as one of the oldest<br />
existant European card games. Made around 1430 in<br />
southwest Germany, it was originally in the possession of the<br />
Duke of Bavaria, becoming the property of the House of Württemberg<br />
in the 17 th century. It is clear that the cards were well<br />
used. Nevertheless, it remains unclear how the game was<br />
played, as very little is known about games in that period.<br />
<strong>The</strong> dating of the famous deck of cards was long disputed.<br />
Only an analysis of the watermarks, undertaken by Gerhard<br />
Piccard in 1958, provided clear indications that it was<br />
produced around 1430. This date is corroborated by the<br />
clothing of the figures portrayed on the cards. By examining<br />
the reverse side of two cards using a bright light, Piccard<br />
discovered a characteristic hunting horn watermark that<br />
was the sign of a Ravensburg paper mill. On the basis of a<br />
number of identical watermarks in his collection, he was<br />
able to show that the paper used for the Stuttgart Deck of<br />
Cards was in circulation between 1427 <strong>and</strong> 1431, especially<br />
in south-western Germany, thus providing a clear timeframe<br />
<strong>and</strong> region for the deck’s production.<br />
Literature: Meurer, Das Stuttgarter Kartenspiel; Sporhan-<br />
Krempel, Das “Stuttgarter Kartenspiel”; Rückert, Antonia<br />
Visconti, 161f.<br />
P.R. (C.P.-K.)<br />
59