Illuminated incunabula in the ÖNB 1475-1500, MeSch X

The ÖNB houses one of the most important collections of incunabula (books printed before 1501). Approximately 20% of these holdings are decorated with medieval book painting. The proposed project pursues the first comprehensive art-historical investigation of illuminated incunabula between 1475 and 1500 in a representative collection. Continuing the catalogue series of illuminated manuscripts and incunabula in the Austrian National Library (ÖNB) and based on the findings of a project on earlier incunabula (1450-75), the research focuses on the new tendencies of mass production in the major German centres of the book trade for the area of present day Austria: Augsburg, Nuremberg and Leipzig. It draws on a broad base of comparative material, which comes from extensive surveys of almost all monastic collections in Austria as well as from the cataloguing of library holdings in Graz and Linz, all based in the Pächt-Archiv. It is well known that book printing redefined book culture, leading to an enormous increase in book production and the emergence of super-regional book markets. Illumination developed within the framework of networks of printers, publishers, book dealers, and illuminators in an environment shaped by universitary and early humanistic circles and monastic connections. By means of art- historical analysis, the project will show: firstly, how these networks emerged in different ways in the three cities; and, secondly, how these developments impacted on the book culture of the import region (present-day Austria). The projects aim is to produce an art-historical catalogue of individual works accompanied by more general introductions, thus analysing and contextualizing the incunabula of the ÖNB in a manner that accounts for their specific medial characteristics. An appropriate cataloguing scheme has already been developed in a project on early illuminated incunabula and would be further adapted for this period. In contrast to predominantly bibliographical incunabula catalogues, art-historical catalogues offer a critical stylistic approach to questions of localization and dating areas in which research on incunabula promises extensive new findings. Along with its relevance for art history, the project promises insights into social and economic aspects of early publishing and the book trade, which will be significant for various disciplines. Cooperation with the ÖNB, the ÖAW and the Manuscript Center in Leipzig and with other research projects in the Pächt-Archiv offers an ideal institutional environment for the project which will also profit from increasingly lively research on Central European illumination and growing interest in the role of incunabula. It is planned to collaborate on exhibitions at the ÖNB and to organize a conference on Art and Book Markets around 1500.

II. B) FWF Summary for Public Relations Illuminated Incunabula in the Austrian National Library (ca. 1475-1500). Central European Schools: Serial Book-Painting from Augsburg, Leipzig, and Nuremberg The Austrian National Library houses one of the world's most important collections of incunabula (books printed before 1500). In the Middle Ages approximately 20% of these Books have been decorated by illuminators (book painters). For the first time the research was dedicated to the art-historical analysis of illuminated prints from 1475-1500 in a representative collection. As is well known, book printing redefined the entire book trade and led to an enormous increase in book production as well as to the emergence of superregional book markets. From the 1470s onwards, proto-industrial structures developed for the production of books for "international" distribution. Book illumination adapted to the new conditions in the context of new superregional networks of printers, publishers, booksellers and illuminators in an environment shaped by university and early humanistic circles, reform monasteries and monastic connections. The research focused on new tendencies of mass production in the most important German centres of the book trade for the Austrian region in the period 1475-1500: Augsburg, Nuremberg and Leipzig. By means of art historical analysis, the project investigated how economically oriented networks developed differently in the three cities. The research interest was directed both towards the perspective of the producers (seriality and mass production of incunabula decoration, determination of groups of works, division of labour, mobility) and towards the perspective of the buyers and the effects of these developments on book culture in the sales markets. In addition to its relevance for art history, the project generated new insights into social and economic phenomena of the incipient publishing and book trade, which will be significant for various disciplines concerned with the history of early printing. The results have been continuously presented in scientific publications, at conferences, in exhibitions and lecture series for the general public. In cooperation with other projects of the Otto Pächt Research Centre at the Institute of Art History of the University of Vienna, the Austrian National Library, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Belvedere, the Schottenstift and the Vienna Dominican Convent, the project organised two international conferences on 15th-century painting, books and visual culture at different venues in 2019 to discuss the current research results in a global context. The project leader and the project members were finally able to integrate both the newly developed methods and the results into teaching.