Western Manuscripts and Miniatures

Considered the antecedent of social networking sites, but in manuscript form, the Album amicorum was often richly illuminated, here with heraldry by a local painter, to show off its owner’s identity and boast of his acquaintances.

192 x 132 mm. Leaf on paper trimmed to the edge of the double miniature, 142 x 92 mm, and pasted on a modern paper border, with junction overpainted in red wash, no watermark visible, seventeenth- or eighteenth-century pagination "169" and "170" in brown ink in the inner lower corner, inscriptions added in brown ink in a late-sixteenth century cursive hand, TWO FULL-PAGE MINIATURES in color washes, burnished gold, liquid gold, and liquid silver, one on each side (tape stains at upper corners, dampstain in the left margin and upper right corner, else in good condition).
 
This illuminated paper leaf contains two full-page miniatures and comes from the as-yet untraced liber amicorum of Jochim Schelles of Ulm, pasted on a modern paper border. The miniature on the recto, paginated 169, depicts the fanciful trophy of arms of Schopps von Ulm under a Renaissance architectural frame, opening onto a deep landscape. It is associated with a lengthy inscription that identifies both the contributor and owner of the liber amicorum, translated: "I, Schopps von Ulm, as a service have had my family coat of arms freely painted for my good friend Jochim Schelles, of Ulm." The verso, paginated 170, also presents a full-page miniature. In an outdoor setting, a woman crowned with a golden crescent moon appears standing as she holds a child in her arms, a young girl playing with a wooden horse by the hand, and a young boy. She might be identified as a personification of Charity or Venus. Below the miniature, an inscription in the same hand dates the leaf of the Easter season of the year 1587.

Alba amicorum, or Stammbuch in German, are antecedents to today's social network sites. These became particularly popular among German students in the middle of the sixteenth century, and were especially favored by young men who, while studying or traveling, collected handwritten notes from friends, professors, fellow students, and new acquaintances. These notes often featured poems, famous quotes, or bits of wisdom. The most fortunate would commission a small illustration from a painter, or create their own, depicting especially coats of arms, cityscapes, allegories, domestic scenes, or couples of lovers. It follows that the present leaf must have come from a particularly wealthy social environment, in which the owner would have commissioned these two full-page miniatures from his painter-friend. The refined execution of the washes of colors with highlights of gold and silver provide its owner Joachim, with elaborate compositions of his coat of arms, associated with the view of a city, and of an allegory.

Such manuscripts with extensive cycles of illustrations have reached important prices at auctions, for example, the Stammbuch of Philip Hainhofer, dated 1596-1633, acquired from Christie's at $2.4 million by the Herzog August Bibliothek of Wolfenbüttel (now Cod. Guelf. 355 Noviss. 8°).

Provenance
Private Collection, California, USA, MS 143.

LITERATURE
Further literature, see: Werner Taegert, Edler Schatzholden Erinnerns: Bilder in Stammbüchern der Staatsbibliothek Bamberg aus vier Jahrhunderten, Bamberg, 1995; Eva Leistenschneider and Gudrun Litz, Like Me! Ulmer Freundschafts-Bücher aus vier Jahrhunderten, exhibition catalogue, Ulm, 2019.

Freeman’s | Hindman thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Elliott Adam for their assistance in preparing this sale.