Tímea N. Kis (University of Tokaj, Hungary)
A unique copy of the Czech historian Martin Boregk‘s Behmische Chronica can be found at the British Library‘s Rare Books & Music Department in London, originally published in Wittenberg in 1587, which was rebound in the last third of the 17th century. During the rebinding, the original printed pages were supplemented with nearly 200 engravings, mostly portraits, vedutas and maps, osto f them are Hungarian, German, Austrian and Czech-related. In my presentation I deal with the technical details and possible reasons for this transformation, including the copy‘s provenance and the former owner, who adapted this book to his own taste.
osto f the engravings were published originally in Nuremberg between the second half of the 16th and the last quarter of the 17th century. The most important result of the research is that with the help of this volume, it has been possible to link eleven portrait engravings to the Nuremberg engraver Balthasar Jenichen, who worked there in the second half of the 16th century. Among the secondary results, a description of the bookbinding technique, like design, the concept of additions or inserting methods of the engravings is noteworthy.