Augsburg Book of Miracles
The Augsburg Book of Miracles is an illuminated manuscript made in Augsburg in Germany in the 16th century.
History
Based on watermarks on some of the pages, the frequency with which events in Augsburg and its environs appear and the naming of Augsburg artist and printmaker Hans Burgkmair within it, it has been concluded that the manuscript was most likely produced in Augsburg.The identities of the creators of the manuscript, and the person or persons for whom it was produced, remain something of a mystery. The name of the Augsburg artist and printmaker Hans Burgkmair appears on one page of the manuscript. Till-Holger Borchert, an expert in German Medieval art, suggests that, as Burgkmair the Elder died in the 1530s, the artist in question here must be his son, Hans Burgkmair the Younger, who is much less well attested by known works. In addition, at least two of the images appear to be based on drawings from the workshop of Burgkmair the Younger, leading Borchert to conclude that he was a contributor to the manuscript, possibly in conjunction with Heinrich Vogtherr the Elder and/or Heinrich Vogtherr the Younger.
The manuscript itself was probably produced between 1545 and 1552.
The leaves were rebound in the nineteenth century. Some are missing, with only one or two recently re-identified.
The manuscript is now in the collection of art collector Mickey Cartin.
Manuscript
The manuscript consists of 123 surviving folios with 23 inserts. Each page is illuminated in full colour in gouache and watercolour. Each illumination is captioned in German Gothic script.In general respects the images follow contemporary manuscripts, in particular Conrad Lycosthenes's Chronicle of Prodigies and Portents and the Histoires Prodigieuses by Pierre Boaistuau, and designs by contemporary painters and printmakers, including Hans Sebald Beham, Hans Holbein the Younger, Lucas Cranach the Elder and Albrecht Dürer. The captions describe and/or comment on the images and, where appropriate, cite Biblical sources or the place and date of the event depicted.
Contents
The manuscript has no introduction, title page, list of contents or dedication that would be usual for the time. Instead it launches straight into its sequence of illustrations and commentary.It is written in rough chronological order, from the Old Testament through various phenomena and portents from Antiquity up to the time of production and finishing with the Book of Revelation.