Details

Other Title:

Büxenmeissterey

Subjects:

Artillery -- Early works to 1800.
Artillery.
Explosives -- Early works to 1800.
Fireworks -- Early works to 1800.
Fireworks.
Explosives.

Form/Genre:

Codices.
Tables (documents)
Watercolors (paintings)
Manuscripts, German.
Manuscripts, European.

Language:

German.

Biography/History:

Gunsmith and pyrotechnician of Augsburg (title page, f. 1r).

Summary:

Two-part work on artillery and fireworks. The author describes the first part in the title as based on a renowned work, which may be that of Joseph Furttenbach, which was published as Halinitro-pyrobolia in 1627 and in an enlarged second edition as Büchsenmeisterey-Schul in 1643. The second part is based on the author's own research and experiments.

Contents:

1. f.2r-78v: Der erste Thail ist vonn mir Daniele Krammer Büxenmaister unndt Feyrwerckher alhie zue Augspurg, auss einem hochberümbten unndt solcher Khünsten wol erfahrnem, mit Fleiss genommen.
2. f.88r-124r: Der andere Thail aber vonn mir selbsten durch unndt durch zue meiner Prob gemacht, undt also inn disses geschriben unndt verfasset wordten.

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Titles for manuscript and parts from title page (p. 1).
Foliation: Paper, ii + 141; 1-127, [128-141] (79-87, 125-141 blank), contemporary foliation in ink, upper right recto.
Layout: Text pages written in up to 34 long lines.
Script: Written in southern German cursive script.
Decoration: 4 full watercolor borders for 2 title pages (f. 1r, 88r) and 1 table (f. 90r); 63 full- or almost full-page and 32 half-page and in-text watercolor illustrations of explosives, spectacles, scenes of individuals detonating devices, and 1 workshop scene (f. 110v); 3 fold-out illustrations, of cannons (f. 5r, 8r) and scales of measurement (f. 92r).
Watermark: Danish royal cipher (for example, f. 82).
Binding: Contemporary parchment, but manuscript has been trimmed at its upper edge, affecting ascenders in section headings and some full-page illustrations; spine title Büxenmeissterey in ink.
Origin: Written in Augsburg (title page, f. 1r), begun before the end of the reign of Emperor Ferdinand III in 1657 (dedication, f. 2r) and completed 1661 (date with erasure, title page, f. 1r).

Local notes:

Lawrence J. Schoenberg & Barbara Brizdle Manuscript Initiative.

Penn Provenance:

Armorial bookplate with initials G. C. v. A., dated 1729 (inside upper cover).
Formerly owned by Mark Dineley, of Berwick St. John, Wiltshire (bookplate, inside upper cover).
Formerly held in the stock and reference library of Hans Peter Kraus (bookplate, inside upper cover).
Sold at auction at Sotheby's (New York) as part of the inventory of Hans Peter Kraus, 4 Dec. 2003, lot 368, to Lawrence J. Schoenberg.
Deposit by Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle, 2012.
Gift of Barbara Brizdle Schoenberg, 2019.

Cited in:

Described in Transformation of knowledge: early manuscripts from the collection of Lawrence J. Schoenberg (London: Paul Holberton, 2006), p. 125 (LJS 461).

Cited as:

Oversize UPenn LJS 461.

Contributor:

Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, 1608-1657, dedicatee.
Dineley, Mark, former owner.
Kraus, Hans Peter, 1907-1988, former owner.
Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Contains:

Furttenbach, Joseph, 1591-1667. Halinitro-pyrobolia.

OCLC:

815518302

Web link:

The Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle Manuscript Initiative Fund Home Page