Treasures of Saxon State Library

Incunabula: Examples of Early Printing

The original Library founded by Prince Elector August in 1556 contained only twelve incunabula, or books printed before 1501. With the purchase in 1589 of Dietrich von Werthern's library, that number increased to nearly 500 titles. Additional incunabula were acquired during the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries by transfer from other libraries or by purchase.

Currently, the permanent collection of the Saxon State Library contains 2,384 incunabula (1,539 of which are still in the Russian State Library). In comparison to other libraries, this is not a large collection, but it encompasses the entire spectrum of fifteenth-century intellectual life: ancient authors, Bibles, theological and historical works, juristic literature, medieval books, travel accounts, and belles lettres. Exceptionally well-represented is the seldom displayed category of printings on vellum.

The exhibited pieces -- an ancient classic, a medieval chronicle, a German missal, a work on music theory, and a Dance of Death poem -- demonstrate the variety of the Library's early printed books.

A sixteenth century French edition, from Troyes, of the "Dance of Death"

Based on a fourteenth-century morality poem, the "Dance of Death" evolved into a set of illustrated verses depicting a dialogue between Death and people of all rank. The theme was very popular in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Christian Europe, reminding the living that rank and station in life were meaningless in the face of death. The hand-colored woodcuts of the Troyes edition characteristically show alternating representations of ecclesiastical and secular society being carried off by Death. The pages on display show the Pope, the Emperor, a cardinal, and a king.

Author unknown Danse macabre (Dance of Death) Troyes, after 1500, leaves a ii/b, a iii/a Paper (14)

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