German Life and Letters 494 October 1996 0016-8777

PUBLISHERS’ PREFACES - THE SIXTEENTH-CENTURY READER’S DIGEST?

ANNE SIMON

For David Paisey’

I

Die Widmungsvorrede wird im Verlaufe des 16. Jahrhunderts zur festen Einrichtung des Buches und bewegt sich unendlich vielstimmig in den Abstu- fungen etwa der bedeutsamen Kundgebungen und Bildungsaufmfe eines Erasmus von Rotterdam und der nichtssagenden Lobhudeleien kleiner und kleinster Schreiberlinge. Ales in allem sind diese Zugaben wertvolle kulturge- schichtliche Zeupisse, die gute Einblicke in den Geist des zunehmenden Schrifttums jener Zeit gewahren.’

This is how the scholar Karl Schottenloher summarises the development and value of dedicatory prefaces, a minor but highly developed literary form which had its beginnings in Greek and Roman literature (especially Virgil, Horace and Cicero), was further developed by the Humanists and flourished particularly in published works of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.2 Despite its cultural and historical interest, the preface as a form has largely been neglected in scholarly re~earch.~ The purpose of this article is an initial analysis and characterisation of sixteenth-century publishers’ prefaces: those prefaces written by, or ghost-written for, a publisher to introduce, dedicate and market a single work or a collection of works. As Schottenloher indicates, in the course of the sixteenth century prefaces became a standard feature of the book, which means the material to be analysed is both extensive and varied. For the sake of clarity and conciseness my remarks will be based on Das RqJbuch &J luyligm Lands, a compendium of pilgrimage reports published by Sigmund Feyerabend in Frankfurt am

To my great regret circumstances prevented me from contributing to David Paisey’s Festschrift, 77w C m ~ n Book 1450-1750 (London 1995). I hope he will accept this rather belated contribution instead, with my gratitude for his help over the years. ’ Karl Schottenloher, ‘Widmungsvorreden deutscher Druckcr und Verleger dcs 16. Jahrhunderts’, Guunbng-Jahrb~ch, 17-18 (1942-3), 141. See also Karl Schottenloher, Die Widnurngsuoncde im Buch &s 16. Jahrhudrfs (Reformationsgeschichtliche Studien und Texte, 76/77), Miinrter 1953. * See Ulrich MachC, ‘Author and Patron: On the Function of Dedications in Seventeenth-Century German Literature’ in James A. Parente, Jr, Richard Erich Schade and George C. Schoolfield (eds), Literary Culture in ihe Holy Roman Empire, 1555-Z7B, Chapel Hill/London 1991, pp. 195-205, here p. 195.

To my knowledge the only recent discussions of the preface as a form are to be found in Birgit Boge, Literatur @r das “Catholische Teutschland”. Das Sorhhd I r Kolnn O&in Wilhclm Fricrrnn im ZSiirMun 1638-1€# (Friihe Neuzcit. Studien und Dokumente zur deutschen Literatur und Kultur im europPischen Kontext, 16), Tiibingen 1993, and the article by MachC. @ Blschvell Publisbcrs Ltd 1996. F’ublished b Blackwell Publishers. 108 Cowley Road. Word OX4 lJF, UK and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, LS.4.

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Main in 1584.4 The length and complexity of the preface to this volume make it a highly illustrative example of the form under discussion. Amongst the areas to be considered are, first, the nature of the individual works contained in Das REygbuch dc,B ircyligcn Lands (essential if the importance and function of the preface is to be appreciated); second, the nature of the RgJbuch as a compendium; third, the Re$buch preface; fourth, the con- clusions that can be drawn from the above about the nature and function of prefaces in general; finally, the validity of these conclusions when applied to other prefaces.

The RgJbuch, a sizeable folio volume, contains sixteen actual pilgrimage reports,5 Robert of Rheims’s Historia Hitrosolymitana in a German translation6 and a guide to the shrines in the Holy Land of the sort compiled by the

‘ Feyerabend, born in Heidelberg in 1528, is first recorded in Frankfurt in the Hoch&sbuch in 1559, when he married Magdalena, daughter of the doctor Augustin Borckhauer from Mainz. Although first active as a wood-engraver for the printers Z6pfel and Rasch, in 1560 he published the Heldenbuch in conjunction with an established Frankfurt printerlpublisher, Weigand Han. Feyerabend became the leading publisher in Frankfurt in the second half of the sixteenth century, known in particular for his Bibles and large compendia, the latter usually introduced by lengthy and complex preface. Despite this the only major work on Feyerabend is the now somewhat outdated monograph by Heinrich Pallmann, Sigmund F g e r a b d , sein kben und seine geschiiJiichm Verbindungen. Ein Beitrag zur Gerchichtt des Frankfurter Buchhan&ls im sech.zehntm JahrhunrlLri, Frankfurt a. M. 1881.

These are (with place and date of first publication): Alexander Pfaltzgraf bei Rhein, Beschreibung dn M e e r f i turn hqligen Grab (the W b u c h ) ; Bugislaus von Pommern, Kurtze Smmamchc Bcschreibung dn RhqJ z m H . Crab (Latin: Wittenberg 1555; German: the RgJbuch); Bemhard von Breidenbach, Peregrinatw in knam 5anctam (Latin: Mainz: Erhard Reuwich [mit den Typen Peter Schoffers], I 1 February 1486; German: Die hqZigen rgssen gen Jheru.rah: Mainz: Erhard Reuwich [mit den Typen Peter SchBffers], 21 June 1486); Felix Fabri, Eigentiich beschreibung dn hin Mvrd widerfarth zu dem Hyligcn M t (n.p. 1556); Albrecht von Lciwenstein, Pilgerfahrt gen J m a l e m (the Rgybuch); Jacob Wormbser, Eigentliche Beschreibung dn AvJigsung ad Heimfdrt (the ReyJbuch); Stephan von Gumpen- berg, WmhaJhge bcschrqbnng dn Meerfmt (Frankfurt a. M.: Georg Rab & Weygand Han, 1561); Melchior von Seydlitz, Gnindrliche Beschreibung dn Wailjarf a h a h hdligm Lnnde (Basle: Samuel Apiarius, 1576); Johann von Ehrenberg, Rgse zu dm, hciligen Grub (Basle: Samuel Apiarius, 1576, with Daniel Ecklin); Leonhard Rauwolfi; Beschreibung dn Rcys ... gegen Auffgang in die Margenlhnder (Lauingen: Leonhart Reinmichel, 1582); Hans Tucher, R&e zwn hnfigen Grab (Augsburg: Johann Schcnsperger, May 1482 (very faulty) & September 1482); Johann Helffrich, Kurtzer und w a r h f i g e r h h t , W(I a h Rris aus Vncdig nach H ~ k n u a h (Lcipzig: Johann Beyer, 1578); Daniel Ecklin, Rcisc zimr kiligen Crab (Freiburg: Stephan Graf, 1575); Johannes von Montevilla, Von dcr erfunurg der Rittcrs hhmne5 15 monhuillc (in the translation by Otto von Diemeringen: Basle: Bernhard Richel, c. 1481); Ludolf von Sudheim (sometimes erroneously called Ludolphus von Suchen), Iter ad Tmam Sanctum (Latin: [Strasbourg: Heinr. Eggesteyn, c.1475-80]; German: [Dar btch uan dm, weg]: Ulm: Johannes Zainer, [1473]); Burchardus de Monte Sion, Descrit~tio Tme Smta (Latin in Rudimnttum nauitariwn: Liibeck: Lukas Brandis de Schasz, 1475; German: in Die New d r , translated by Michel Herr after the text in NODUS Orb& Strasbourg: Georg Ulrich von Andla, 1534). ‘The Histom H h s a l ~ i t m a was first published in Latin in [Cologne: Printer of Dares (Johann Schilling), c. 14721. The first German translation, Van Hurtzag Gotfried wit cr widn die l’iirgen vnd HaiJah geshittcn mi & hqIig Grab gnvwM hat, was published in Augsburg by Johann Bamler in 1482. This translation is by Heinrich Steinh6wel. 6 Blackwell Publi .41~~ Ltd 1996.

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Franciscans and available in Venice, point of departure for the sea voyage to Jaffa.’ These reports can be characterised in a number of different ways, the first of which is their publishing history prior to the compendium. Three had not appeared in print before: those by Alexander Pfalzgraf bei Rhein, Albrecht von Lowenstein and Jacob Wormbser. Others had been ‘out of print’ for some time by 1584: the most recent edition of Ludolf von Sudheim, for example, was the Latin one of around 1483;* the most recent German edition of Bernhard von Breidenbach dated from around 1503;9 Robert of Rheims had last appeared in Latin in 1533;’O and Burchardus in German in 1534.“ As will have become apparent, a number of the Rcy$buch reports had appeared first in Latin and then in German (Robert of Reims; Bugislaus von Pommern; Bernhard von Breidenbach; Ludolf von Sudheim; and Burchardus de Monte Sion). Moreover, the works had enjoyed differing degrees of success. Johann von Ehrenberg’s rather dry narrative, for example, had appeared only once before the ReyJbuch, namely in 1576, in the same volume as another R@6uch author, Daniel Ecklin. On the other hand, the work by Hans Tucher, which first appeared in Augsburg in 1482, had been through six, possibly seven editions by 1486 and become the quasi-archetypal pilgrimage text, one other pilgrims took with them and copied from in compiling their own reports.’* The Dean of Mainz Cathedral, Bernhard von Breidenbach, himself a copier of Tucher, published an immensely successful work in 1486, the Latin original quickly being followed by High and Low German, French and Spanish translations. Even more successful had been the immensely popular Mandeuille’s Travels, a sort of medireval best seller even in manuscript, with some three hundred

’ This is probably a translation of the Vitihtio totius &we sancl, also published as an appendix to Leo von RoZmital’s report in the first edition of the Latin text, Cornmakm’os bnvis et imndm itinnis at@ pcrcgriMlMIis (Olmiitz: Friederich Millichtaler, 1577: fol. 130-5), and in the edition of the Bibliothek dca litterarischen Vereins in Stuttgart, vol. 7 (ISM), pp. 136-42. * Ludolf von Sudheim, Iter ad Tenan Sanctanz (Gouda: Gheraert Lceu, before I 1 June 1484); in German [Da b k h w11 dm, wg] ([Augsburg: Giinther Zainer, 1477)).

Bcrnhard von Breidenbach, Dic h l i g e n rcyssen gen J b d m (Speyer: Peter Drach, after 1502). A Latin version appeared in Antoine Geuffroy, Aulc Turk& Othmnamiciguc impcrii &scripio (Bask: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1577). loRobert of Rheims, Histair i t i e contra Twms (Bask: Henricus Petrus, 1533). There is also a version from 1584 in Justus Reuber, Vctmnn Smptom, p i h a m et Imperatom Cenna~icwvm Res pcr aliquot Secula S e s h , liusir mndarunf (Frankfurt a. M.: Andreas Wechel, 1584). Reuber is first listed, aa is the R.@buch, in the catalogue to the book fair in Frankfurt at Lent 1584. The most recent German version before the RgJbuch was published in Augsburg by Lucas Zeissenmair in 1502. ‘ I Burchardus de Monte Sion, Flgssige beschrgbung dn irtm, in Die Nnu Welt, translated by Michel Herr (Strasbourg: Georg Ulrich von Andla, 1534). A Latin version had appeared more recently in Dc Dinunsiau Tmc (Wittenberg: Johanna Lufft, 1579).

See Majatta Wis, ‘Nochrnals zum deutschen Fortunatar-Volksbuch‘, Ncuphilofogischc Mittcifugm, 66 (1965), 199-209.

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390 PUBLISHERS' PREFACES - THE 16TH-CENTURY READER'S DICESF

still extant. l 3 Two different German translations from the original Anglo- Norman had appeared in the 1480~;'~ during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Mandcville's Travels also appeared in French, English, Latin, Dutch, Czech, Italian and Spanish. Thus the Regbuch included a mixture of texts ranging from the completely unknown to international best sellers with a long record of popularity.

A second way of classifying Rqjlbuch reports is by the social rank of the traveller, the principle underlying the order of texts in the compendium. Here again the range is considerable: from the French count, Godfrey of Bouillon, who became the first king of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem; to Bugislaus, Duke of Pomerania and lesser nobility such as Melchior von Seydlitz; a merchant, the Nuremberg Patrician Hans Tucher, member of that city's governing council; an Augsburg doctor and botanist, Leonhard RauwolR an artisan, Johann Helffrich, and an apothecary's apprentice, Daniel Ecklin. The diversity of traveller is an indication of the time span covered by the RcysSbuch: initially only men of rank and substance could afford the voyage to the Holy Land and not until the late fifteenth century and after the Reformation do we find larger numbers of people from lower social classes travelling. Indeed, some post-Reformation authors in the Rcy$buch (Leonhard Rauwolff, Jacob Wormbser and Johann Helffrich) are Protestant .

A third way the pilgrimage reports in the RVJbbuth can be characterised is by content. While many reports have much the same structure, dictated by the structure of the journey itself, they vary in the amount of information about and attitudes to countries and people seen en routc to the Holy Land; in descriptions of and attitudes towards the shrines themselves; and in the narration of personal experiences on the voyage. Bernhard von Breidenbach, for example, travelled as chaplain to a party of noblemen led by Johannes, Count of Solms. His work is long, discursive and a vehicle for virulent and offensive anti-Muslim pr~paganda. '~ On the other hand, Hans Tucher, who undertook the pilgrimage for reasons of personal piety, wrote a factual report of great practical value for future travellers and free of anti-Muslim sentiment, despite his having been stabbed in the neck by an Arab in Alexandria.'' Rauwolff travelled out of a desire to see and gather plants he had read about in Classical textbooks (fol. 276') and he devotes great

Is For the histoly of the Mandeville transmission see Josephine Waters Bennett, 77u Redumvny of SirJohn MunahiIle (Modem Languages Association of America Monograph Series, 19), New York 1954, and Eric John Morrall (ed.), Sir John Mnndmillcr Reisebmhreibung. In &&her ubcrsetzung 00s

Michel VtLrm (Deutsche Texte dw Mittelahen, 66), Berlin 1974. The translations are by Michel Velsa (before 1393), first published in Augsburg by Anton Sorg

in 1481; and Otto von Diemeringen, first published in Bask by Bernhard Richel in 1481 or 1482. The latter translation was the more popular. I' For the sources of Brcidenbach's polemics see Hugh W. Davies, Banhard wn Brlydmbach and his J m r y to the Hdy W, London 1911. They include the Sprcvlynr HLtorialc by Vincent de Beauvais, the Inrpmbafw of Petrus Alphonsus and the works of the Dominican Bishop ofToriullo, Bartholomieus de Luca. l6 Dar Rdbuch 9 h@gm LMdr, fol. 369". All future page references will be given in the text. @ Bkkwell PuMin Ltd 1%.

PUBLISHERS’ PREFACES - THE 16TH-CENTURY READER’S DIGEST? 391

space to the description of them and their habitat. Finally, Mandcville’s Travels is shot through with pure fantasy. It starts as a straightforward pilgrimage report, only to wander insouciantly into a world populated by myths and monsters more at home in Herzog Ernst, the Alexandnlitd or the fringes of mediaeval mppk mundi.

Thus it emerges that Feyerabend, in compiling the Rdbuch, combined very disparate works with distinct histories of their own. He then faced the task of welding them together into a coherent whole, convincing and attract- ive enough to persuade potential customers to buy it. This goal he achieved by three means: the title page, which advertises the collection in a way which encompasses both the individual and the common features of the works;” the subject index to the whole compendium, which combines references to different works under single subject headings; and his preface, which runs to over seven folio sides. The function of the preface is thus to unifjr material more or less arbitrarily assembled and to present it in the light which best suited Feyerabend’s purposes. It must be remembered that individual works had boasted their own prefaces, which were dropped on their inclusion in the Rt$btuh, so Feyerabend is ignoring original authorial or publisher intention and tailoring the presentation of these narratives to fit his own agenda.

What precisely was this agenda? Columbus had discovered America in 1492, almost one hundred years previously, giving rise to a growing body of literature on the New World.’8 The Reformation had caused a decisive break in pilgrimage, which resumed only in the mid-1550s; by this time the reasons for travelling had become more overtly secular, as Rauwolff demonstrates. Why did the leading publisher in the city at the centre of the book trade, a businessman as shrewd as Feyerabend undoubtedly was, publish so backward-looking a volume so late in the century, at a time when its contents may well have outlived their interest and relevance?

It is the preface that provides the answer to this question. Structurally, it falls into nine more or less logically linked parts. It does not introduce

l7 The wording of the Rc$?buck preface is often reminiscefit of that of the title page and highlights aspects of the pilgrimage reports initially brought to the reader’s attention on the latter. One example is its first section, which reflects the importance of social hierarchy as an ordering principle: RcyJbuch 9 heylignr L u d D a s irt Ein gnmdlliuhc beschmbung alkr md jcdn M m md Bilg&hrtcn zum hgligtn Latddso b j S h d i n zdil dassclbig wn ah VngWigm mbnt mi inn gehabdbcy& mit bcunhrtcr Hand wd K&@achdzn uridcr mbcnurg dna L a d h auch 4 anclociht md ChtisUcRn amnutmg zn ah hcyligm O r d m vkkn I G r s d G r a f f i F ~ R i t t d m A&l vnd & ~ % p ; N e w E . h ~ md Tugd ieb tdd geis t l ih mi wrltlichr Stands H d z n W w n ad Land w r g d i n t Wmk g&md d u d ruundrrbmlich Abenthndauch m@nbluh grow g&hr L d s d Guts wllnbracht.

Examples include NRW nnbekanthe I d & (Nuremberg: Ceorg Stuck, 1508), Jobst Ruchammer’s translation of Fracanzano da Montalboddo’s Pa& n a v m ~ ~ & retrowti (Vincentin: Henriu, Vicentino, 1507) and Dic Nnu Welt (Sunsbourg: Georg Ulrich von Andla, 1534), Michel Herr’s translation of Simon Crynaeus’s N o m Orbis (Bask: Johanna Hervagius, 1532).

@ Blrhvell publirbari ud 19%.

392 PUBLISHERS’ PREFACES - THE IGTH-CENTURY READER’S DICESF

pilgrimage reports immediately but engages first in theoretical discussion. Its rather circuitous approach, which constitutes a fine display of authorial erudition, is a feature of other prefaces of the age.19 A theoretical background was obviously desirable to place a given volume in the context of its extra- literary world and to convince the reader of its reliability and value. In the following the Rdbuch preface will be discussed against the intellectual and historical background of the age with a view to establishing both what insights it offers into the climate of thought in the late sixteenth century and the clues it provides to Feyerabend’s reasons for publishing the Rqjbuch at that particular time.

Man’s desire to explore the unknown constitutes the opening subject. Curiosity and the desire to broaden one’s knowledge are presented as innate. Immediately striking is the positive light in which this desire is viewed: ‘ja je mehr solch begierd in einem Menschen sich erhget vnd sehen lest/je adelicher vnd vortrefRicher man dieselbig Natur vnnd Verstand zu schatzen pflegt’ (fol. )(ijr). These lines constitute something of a departure from the mediaeval attitude towards man’s wish to extend his physical and intellectual horizons. Curiositas, considered a vice in the Middle Ages, was a broad and complex concept. In Curiosity and Pilgrimage Christian Zacher offers the following explanation of it:

Generally defined, the temptation of curiositar referred to any morally excessive and suspect interest in observing the world, seeking novel experiences, or acquiring knowledge for its own sake. Through the Middle Ages theologians looked on curiositar as a phase of original sin, which made all men wanderers in a fallen world; curiosity about this inferior world would prevent a man from reaching that other land of the Father.M

Influential in the formation of the mediaeval view was Augustine, who condemned curiositas as lust of the eyes which could lead men away from contemplation of God and thus from salvation.*’ It was the very opposite of the monastic ideal of ascetic withdrawal from the world, of the st~bilitas embodied in the rule of the Benedictine order.

Curiositar comprised both intellectual and physical wandering. Hence even pilgrimage was suspect since it involved leaving one’s fixed social order,

”For example, the preface to Gmogr@ia, the third part of the Cncrolclnonim, published by Feyerabend in 1576. In this preface an acmunt of the history and benefits of shipping and a reminder of the reverence in which Neptune is held as the inventor of the first vessel precede the main topics: voyages of discovery and a description of all parts of the (known) world.

Christian Zscher, Curio@ d Pilgrimage. 7 h Litmature of D b g in F m ~ m t h & ~ England, Baltimore/London 1976. This view is still shared in the late fifteenth century by Sebastian Brant, who echoes Augustine in the section entitled Won erfarung aller land’ in Dor wnr‘sc&fl(Nuremberg: P. Wagner, 1494). There he discusses what he s e a as ueauive curiosity and desire to travel and states quite unequivocally: Dami wm rrin spa tfc wordrk stodDer mag nit gew!.zlich dicnirr gof (fol. Nij’). For more on Augustine’s views on curiosity ace the H&nircha W M dn Philosophic, col. 732-3;

Zacher, pp. 21-3; and Hans Blumenberg, Die dn Nnra’t, part 3, Dn PTO@ der rhcerelischm Nrugindc, Frankfurt a. M. 1966, pp. 296-309. Q Blackwell RtMirbcn Ltd 1%.

PUBLISHERS’ PREFACES - THE 16TH-CENTURY READER’S DZGESP 393

exposing oneself to new experiences and thus running the risk of losing sight of God during the very journey to Him. For the purposes of its condemnation curiositar embraced any experience or quest for knowledge other than that contained in the Bible or immediately necessary for sal- vation. Thus the unequivocal approval of man’s innate curiosity voiced in the preface signifies a development away from earlier attitudes towards a more open, positive view of the world. Moreover, as an introduction to what are essentially travel reports it affirms the value of this most physical manifestion of man’s desire to explore and learn.

In the Reybuch preface the second paragraph links the preceding analysis of the nature and impulses of man’s intellect to the subsequent discussion of the history, character and function of ‘Historien’.22 It does so by estab- lishing three goals for man’s intellectual striving which are then introduced as the three main subject areas of Historien. Pre-eminence is accorded to God and the articles of the Christian faith as laid down in the Bible, for the understanding of which divine revelation has always been essential. Knowledge of God is still regarded as the ultimate wisdom and the Divine as the limits of man’s intellect. The physical manifestation of God, that is, His creation and its workings, constitute the second main topic of ‘Historien’. Natural history can be studied for its own sake, although ultimately the book of nature is teleological. The third object of man’s intellectual activity is worldly government and social order. The concept of a just state rep- resented here is not directly related to God, but the Christian principles at its root would have been taken for granted. Thus everything derives ultimately from Him, even though the focus of the discussion is at times predominantly secular. None of these topics - God and the faith, the natural world, human government - has any clearly stated link with pilgrimage reports. Arguably, however, these deal with all three: their descriptions of the Holy Land - scene of the Almighty’s revelation of Himself to man, of the acts of His prophets and the ministry of Christ - transmit knowledge first recorded for posterity in the Bible. Their portrayals of the flora, fauna and natives of foreign countries relate to the natural world; while the accounts of foreign government, laws and social institutions belong to the third topic.

Thus the objects of man’s intellectual activity correspond to the subject matter of ‘Historien’, a discussion of whose history, nature and role follows. Under this heading Feyerabend subsumes travel reports. His inclusion amongst ‘Historien’ of the Bible and Classical authors serves to emphasise the venerability of the genre and hence the credibility of pilgrimage litera- ture. In the preface relatively scant mention is made of the genre’s function

?* Historia, a complex concept, varied in meaning over the centuries and in the late sixteenth covered the extremes of popular prose fiction such as Dil Uknspiegcl, Hnzog Emrt and FmaMhrr on the one hand, chronicles and thbotogical writings on the other. For an authoritative analysis of the genre see Joachim Knape, Historia in Mit&laltcr u n d j X h Nnyair (Saecula spiritah, lo), Baden-Baden 1984.

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394 PUBLISHERS PREFACES - THE IGTH-CENTURY READER’S DIGESI?

as entertainment; rather, its task as a purveyor of knowledge is focused upon. According to Feyerabend, ‘Historien’ are, firstly, the records of God’s disclosure of Himself and His Will to man. While they include the Church Fathers, it is above all the Bible that is meant, the ‘Inbegriff aller histofice’ and the ‘Ausgangspunkt literarisch-historischer Kritik‘ f Knape, p. 333). The Bible was, therefore, the yardstick by which everything else was measured. Pilgrimage reports, though not on a par with the Bible as the repository of absolute truth, do, through their descriptions of Old and New Testament sites, confirm the physical reality of Biblical events and aid people’s under- standing of the written word.

Secondly, ‘Historien’ are the transmitters of all other knowledge, both divine and secular, since the Bible; above all in the writings of Classical authors, held in high esteem as sources of learning. This and what follows are important for a number of reasons. First, the continuity of the world view to which sixteenth-century man considered himself heir is stressed. Second, the subject order is revealing: God; the heavens, to which man looked to discover Him and which astronomy sought to grasp; medicine, concerned with man’s physical well-being; and botany, the world about him which also contributed the plants used in medicine. Thus focus shifts from the Divine to the macrocosm to the microcosm. Third, the type, comprehensiveness and order of the material recalls that of the mediaval encyclopzdia, described by Christel Meier as ‘ein Buch, das die Welt enthalt’.23 Although neither the contents nor the layouts of either the Rcygbuch as an entity or its works taken individually resemble encyclopadias, which had as their basis the order of the six days of Creation, Feyerabend may have seen his collection as a variant of this tradition when asserting its usefulness as a reference work for better understanding of the Bible. Matter derived from Classical sources is found in pilgrimage reports, though it is mainly mythological or fantastic and the extent to which and the consciousness and accuracy with which it is used vary from author to author. Thus these texts could be seen as fitting loosely into the tradition of its transmission, a function which in turn reinforces their own authority.

Thirdly, ‘Historien’ are considered the source of moral and practical exmpla, especially for those in government. Considerable space is devoted to their role as sources of advice in practical questions and of guidelines for practical politics. Knape surmises that the most important task of ‘Historien’ was the reinforcement of the ‘Legitimitat von Herrschaft und Traditionen der Machtausubung’ (Knape, p. 372). Confirmation is found in the Rcy4buch preface, where the legitimacy of the laws governing the Holy Roman Empire (and by extension of the Empire itself) is consolidated by their being traced back, through ‘Historien’, to the Romans and even the Greeks. The belief in the Holy Roman Empire as heir to the Roman

z3 Christel Meier, ‘Grundziige dcr mittelalterlichen Enzyklopidik’ in Ludger Crcnzrnann and Karl Stackrnann (cds), Literahtr und Loimddduq inr Si%hniuckllln wd in ah Rufmtionrzeit, Stuttgart 1984, pp. 467-500, here p. 471. @ Bi&rkweU Publirhen Ltd 1996.

PUBLISHERS’ PREFACES - THE 16TH-CENTURY READER’S DICESR 395

one was, of course, derived from the prophecy of the four world empires in Daniel and propagated thoughout the Middle Ages (Daniel 11. 31-45 & Daniel VII).

‘Historien’ act as a cohesive legal and social force; their usefulness to those in government extends, according to Feyerabend, to war as well as peace. It is hard to conceive what tactical advice could be found in pilgrim- age reports, since they contain little about the actual waging of war. In the Regbuch only the History of the First Crusade records an actual cam- paign and it is scarcely credible that a sixteenth-century military commander would have consulted it for battle strategies. Either the true nature of pilgrimage literature is being submerged in the theoretical discussion, or else Feyerabend intends to convey the spirit in which a battle should be fought as a build-up to his call for a new Crusade against the Turks. Possibly he was implying that from the compendium princes and military leaders could cull enough general information about the Ottoman govern- ment, army and character to plan effective tactics against them.

Conversely, pilgrimage reports do yield insights of value in peace, as the government, customs, religious rituals and trade practices of Eastern coun- tries are held up as examples, either positive or negative. One instance of the latter is the Ottoman system of devshirme, the capture of Christian boys to be raised as Muslims and trained either for the army or state administration. Without exception, RtYgbuch authors express their abhorrence of the practice, which is quoted as irrefutable proof of Muslim cruelty and Godlessness. ‘Historien’ are thus presented as both products of and contributory factors in the development of man’s intellectual curiosity, and the written word as essential to political, social, religious and moral continuity and cohesion.

A less serious note is struck by their (albeit minor) function as a pleasant diversion for those preoccupied with the burden of government. A hitherto unconsidered aspect of pilgrimage reports is thereby introduced: their value as entertainment, provided by their stories of pirates, attacks by hostile Arabs or glimpses of a varied and exotic world outside Europe - all elements of adventurous travel literature. Moreover, as the primary function of ‘Historien’ is didactic, this passage implies that learning itself can be pleasur- able.

The sophistication of language and the essentially theoretical discussion of ‘Historien’ indicate the volume is aimed at a reader educated enough to enjoy literature more demanding than the popular prose fiction which also fell under that heading and intelligent enough to draw and put into practice conclusions from the texts. In the closing remarks on ‘Historien’ their didactic nature and practical application to the conduct of everyday life are again stressed. To sum up, the analysis of ‘Historien’ is intended to mould the reader’s reception of pilgrimage reports and the reminder of their venerable history calculated to win acceptance for them. Fabulous elements possibly detrimental to their credibility are neatly dealt with under the heading ‘entertainment’, so that while the overwhelming impression is

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of their edifying function, the reader can rest assured his instruction will also be enjoyable.

Having established the credentials of the genre, the preface broadens its definition from history in the modern sense (here distinguished as ‘Geschicht’) to include ‘die Geographische beschreibung der Landschafften Stfitt/Flecken/Berg vnd Thfil’ advertised in similar wording on the title page (fol. )(id‘). Also reminiscent of the latter are the following lines, which continue the opening theme, praise of those with an inquisitive mind: ‘Vnd sind der art sonderlich hoch zu halten/die dasjenige/so sie selbst mit augen gesehen/obseruirt vnd wol ingenomedauch eigens AeiB auffs Papyr bracht/ vii andern zu guter nachrichtung hinderlassen’ (fol. ) (iijr). However, this passage goes one step further by specifically commending authors who have not stopped at theoretical curiosity but actively realised theirs by going out to observe and record the world. The transmission of information on the unknown world is seen as a positive benefit to others, further indication of the change in attitude since the time of the earliest Regbuch authors, Ludolf and Burchardus, when even pilgrimage was looked upon askant.

The first examples given by Feyerabend of eyewitness travel accounts are not those of pilgrimages but of voyages to the New World, India, Africa and Russia, not least because he himself had published collections of the same. His Weftbuch (1567), for example, contains sections on India, Africa and America; the Ntxwe Welt (1567) two narratives on South America and one on India; and the Muscouitische Chronica (1576) is a comprehensive survey of the laws, customs, religion, geography and so forth of Russia.24 Now pilgrimage reports are finally introduced. Whilst the immediate reason for the pre-eminence they are accorded amongst travel reports may be Feyerabend’s wish to sell them, another factor must be the unquestionable and ail-pervasive piety of the sixteenth century, in which the intimate connexion of pilgrimage reports with matters of faith would doubtless have found an echo. By giving pilgrimage reports pride of place amongst ‘Histori- en’ the author also links themes from the first part of the preface to the subsequent laudation of the Holy Land. To unravel the latter’s theological complexities would exceed the scope of this article; hence the most relevant points will be singled out for discussion.

The first is a recurrent argument, namely the benefit derived from written accounts by those unable to see foreign climes for themselves. The role of ‘Historien’ as intermediaries between the object of interest and the reader is re-stated; here they function as purveyors to the German-speaking world of geographical and popular-religious knowledge otherwise difficult to obtain. The reader is meant to internalise the information to the extent

‘*The Welfbuch consisls of two parts: the first is Sebastian Franck‘s WcZfbuch, first published in Tiibingen by V. Morhart in 1534; the second is Feyerabend’s Nnuvr Wclf with a new title page. Ncuwc Wcff (Frankurt a. M.: by Martin Lechler for Sigmund Feyerabend and Simon Hiiter, 1567) contains an account of Portuguese voyages of discovery to India and the descriptions by Ulrich Schmidl and Hans Staden of their experiences in South America. Die Moscmrifucht Chmnica was printed in Frankfurt a. M. by Johanncs Schmidt for Sigmund Feycrabcnd in 1576. @ Blsfhrcll PuMisben Lmll996.

PUBLISHERS’ PREFACES - THE IGTH-CENTURY READERS DIG‘ESI? 397

that he might have been to the Holy Land himself. Second, we return to curiositas in that a curious reader is assumed and his right to enlightenment taken for granted. Curiosity has become a legitimate impulse, which pilgrim- age reports satisfy by providing information that enables the reader to participate mentally in the whole sequence of the journey - a function important enough to be mentioned several times. Indeed, the preface goes further in suggesting the reader may be prompted to act on his own curiosity and undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, thereby confirming the reality of the written word.

Third, progession in time paralleled by progression in space dictates the sequence of subject matter here. Old Testament figures (Abraham, Moses and Jacob) and the Exodus (the journey out of a foreign homeland to the true one in God) form the preamble to what is their historical and Biblical culmination - the New Testament and life of Christ. His story is linked to a tour of the Holy Land, a combination which constitutes the basic narrative structure of many pilgrimage reports. The Holy Land itself is called ‘der rechte Kern vnnd Marck der gantzen weiten Welt’ (fol. )(iijr). In this and many other small points the glorification of the Holy Land provides an emotive build-up to the call for action against the Turks.

Having concluded the laudatio on the Holy Land, Feyerabend puts forward other reasons for reading and valuing travel literature. Their variety suggests an attempt to sell the R9Jbuch under as many different rubrics as possible, thus creating a market larger than presenting it as a collection of purely semi-devotional works might have achieved. His first argument is that it satisfies man’s constant desire for novelty. However, at this point the reader is left in no doubt as to travel literature’s morally improving nature: the vicissitudes of war it records exemplify the vanitas of the world and should serve as a warning. As the reports, with the exception of the History of the First Crusade, only portray war and the mutability of fortune on the periphery, Feyerabend is slanting his material to dovetail with a motif dominant since the Middle Ages. However, it must be admitted that the Venetian conflict with the Turks, for example, is reflected in pre-Refor- mation works, when en route to the Holy Land their authors mention islands subject once to Venice but now to the Ottomans. Melchior von Seydlitz and Albrecht von Lowenstein, although not involved in fighting the Turks, were imprisoned by them and their narratives relate the ensuing hardships. Ottoman encroachment on the Holy Roman Empire and the widespread fear it provoked lend this passage a particular relevance, while the renewed piety and humility urged by the publisher were advocated by many theo- logians of the time as the only defence against the infidel scourge.25 These words also foreshadow Feyerabend’s subsequent warning of the dire fate suffered by or in store for Christians in a Europe partly ravaged by invading Turks.

”John W. Bohnstedt, The In@l Scourge of Cod: the Turkish menace as seen 6.r the C m M n PawzphIe&trs of the Refonnufwn Era, Transactions of the American Philiasophical Society, N.S., vol. 58, part 9.

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Feyerabend’s second approach is to recommend the R9J6uch as a reference work, ostensibly for theologians and all lovers of history, but implicitly for the Christian princes he would like to see head a war against Christendom’s hereditary enemy. The purpose of the collection is, then, quite pragmatic: to facilitate better understanding of the Bible through detailed descriptions of the scenes of its action. Despite its title, the ReYgbuch is presented here as a handbook to the Bible, intended for consultation at home rather than on a journey (against which its format in any case militates).

Continuing the theme of the RvJbiuh as a source of valuable information, the preface addresses merchants and possibly diplomats amongst its poten- tial readers. By implying the untrustworthiness of Oriental nations, be it in peace or war, Feyerabend reinforces existing prejudices and emphasises Christians’ need for detailed knowledge, such as that offered by the RqJ6uch, for their own self-protection. The final reason for reading pilgrimage reports recalls the recommendation of Historim as relaxation for statesmen:

Endlich befinden sich auch hierin allerhand wunderbarliche geschicht vnd historien/so den guthertzigen Leser erlustigedvnd hdhern sachen nachzu- denckedauch in dergleichen oder andere weg der Welt brauch vii gelegenheit durch reysen zuerkunden/erwecken vnd auffmundtern kbnnen. (fol. ) (iiij”)

Emphasis on the fabulous and entertaining is stronger, reflecting the close- ness of travel literature to the popular prose fiction of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

The accolade awarded intrepid travellers who leave personal records of their adventures leads into fulsome praise of Feyerabend himself, above all his selflessness in the furtherance of the common good. Publication of the Rc@buch becomes the concrete manifestation of its publisher’s public- spiritedness. In the same passage he underlines the importance of the community for the individual and his own support of its values. Given Feyerabend’s character and business record, however, it is unlikely that he was prompted solely by altruism to print the RtyJbuch. Pallmann is moved to say of him that ‘er alles war, nur nicht “edel, hilfreich und gut”’ (Pallmann, p. 55) and judges that his business practices ‘oft nahe an Betrug streiften’ (Pallmann, p. 56). Feyerabend twice points out his investment of ‘hdchstes Aeisses/vngespartes kostens/mbh vfi arbeit’ (fol. ) (iiij”) and cun- ningly slips in some advertising for the rest of his stock list:

Der meinung hab ich biBher hkhstes fleisseslvngespartes kostendmhh vxi arbeit/ein gute anzal bficher/fast in allen Faculteten/durch den Truck offentlich an Tag geben/darunter sich dann auch fast die ffirnembsten Historici vnd Geschichtschreiber so jernals gewesenhnd von den ffirnembsten Landen/ Kdnigreichen vnd Regimenten der Welt JarbScher/oder auff ander weiB Geschichten geschriebedbefinden. (fol. ) (iiij”)

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Thus readers appreciative of the RCyJbuch know where to go for more of the same!

The preface reaches its culmination in the warning about the Turkish threat and exhortation to a new crusade, professed by Feyerabend as his prime motives for publishing the collection (fol. )(v‘). The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries had witnessed the advance in the Mediterranean and Europe of the Ottoman Empire. Although the Turks had gr+dually been bringing the Balkan peninsula under their control since the mid-fourteenth century, Christendom experienced a major shock when Constantinople fell to them in 1453. The Turks subsequently made the city into an Ottoman capital. Their advance generated an increasingly obsessive, hysterical fear which penetrated all levels of society, even in areas not directly threatened. For the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Turk was ‘der Inbegriff des Bosen schlechthin’.26 Fear of the Turks was constantly stirred by sermons, prayers and admonitions to repentance, the ‘Turkenmesse’, songs, pro- cessions, the ringing of the ‘Turkenglocke’ and so on. Moreover, the sixteenth century, especially the second half, saw a growing volume of ‘Turkenlitera- tur’ on the book market: collections of sermons and prayers; the so-called Ncuc Zeitungtn; admonitory tracts; and chronicles copied in part from the reports of pilgrims and other travellers. Deeply rooted dread and hatred of an enemy perceived, above all by Lutherans, as the forces of Anti-Christ prevailed.

Contemporary notions of the Turks are woven into the Rcy$buch preface. Christian sinfulness and lack of unity were thought to have incurred God’s wrath and the Turks’ might to constitute His punishment. In this the Turkish threat was heid to be one manifestation of a general crisis of the age. In the RvJbuch preface the idea of Turkish invasion as divine retribution is still powerful. Feyerabend starts by holding up as an example the punish- ment wreaked on the Jews, his message being that similar chastisement could be visited on Christians unless they repent. He piles invective on the Turks that draws on popular preconceptions and is calculated to fuel the fires of terror and hatred. As well as reminding his public of their ‘vnmensch- liche Tyranney’ and ‘vnersettlichen Blutdurst’, Feyerabend reviles the Turks as ‘Bluthund, Landverwfister/Menschendieb [a reference to the practice of the dcvshim]/Meer vnd Strassenrluber’ (fol. ) (v’). Nowhere is one safe from them and the vehemence of his language both hammers home how dire a fate awaits Germany should no moral reform be forthcoming and conveys the panic the Turks struck into Christian hearts. Thus there is no doubt that by sounding the trumpet of Ottoman peril Feyerabend is not only playing on one of the deepest-rooted phobias of the age but also responding to the needs of a market still eager for information on the hereditary foe.

26 Winfried Schulze, Reid und Turkengtjir im $ih 16. J a h r k h t , Munich 1978, here p. 54. Sec also Robert Schwoebel, 7% Shadow ofthe Crescent: the Rmairsance Iwwge ofthe Turk, Nieuwkoop 1967, and Carl Gijllner, Turcica, 111, Dic 7iirk+?ntage in &r iifmtlichm Mknnag Europar im 16. Jahrhndcrt, BucharesdBaden-Baden 1978.

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In keeping with this the R d b u c h is dedicated to Philipp Riedesel von Camberg, one of the priors of the Order of St John (or Hospitallers), which had been waging an active war against the Muslims for centuries. The Order, founded almost immediately after the First Crusade, was in fact the oldest in the Holy Land. Its original purpose had been to care for the sick, the needy and pilgrims worn out by the journey to Jerusalem, and it distributed alms on a tremendous scale.27 Riedesel came from an old noble line in Hessen, Camberg being a small town in the Frankfurt region. Feyerabend’s glowing praise of the Order of St John is no doubt prompted by his desire to win a powerful and generous protector for the collection, one with local connexions. The preface seems to indicate that Feyerabend has two agendas: the overt one is to warn his fellow countrymen about the Turkish threat and stir the princes into action; the covert one to exploit the market for literature on the Turks by so slanting the presentation of the pilgrimage reports in the Rcytsbuch that they appear to fulfil a function for which most were not written.

IV

What conclusions can be drawn from this account of the ReyJbuch preface about the function and nature of publishers’ prefaces in general? Firstly, and most obviously, their purpose was to mould into and present as an entity sources themselves different in nature and function, sometimes at the cost of distorting a text’s original aim and contents. Secondly, prefaces were meant to attract a potential buyer’s attention and persuade him to purchase the volume in question. Thirdly, they were intended to manipulate reader response to the contents of the works. Fourthly, they were a form of self-advertisement and self-aggrandisement on the publisher’s part but also of self-defence: he could disclaim sole responsibility for publication by referring to friends who had persuaded him to it and through flattery of the dedicatee win himself powerful protection, no minor consideration at a time when the power of the imperial censor was growing.28

However, the interest of prefaces lies not just in their function but also in their contents. They are a repository, in condensed form, of sixteenth- century learning, showpieces for the continuation of the Classical and mediaeval traditions and for the intellectual and cultural deveIopments and r6le models of the age - in other words, a sort of Reader’s Digest of the sixteenth century. In the Rcy$buch preface alone one finds intellectual history in the discussion of curiositas; literary theory in the analysis of ‘Historien’; the uses of literature in society in both this analysis and the recommendation

27 See Joshua Prawer, ‘The Military Orders’ in 77u &in Kingdmn oJ Jmdm, London 1972, pp. 252-79. aa See Ulrich Eisenhardt, ‘Staatliche und kirchliche EinfluBnahmen auf den deutschen Buehhandel im 16. Jahrhundert’ in B&@e a r Geschichtc &s B u c b m irn hfmsiowlkn Zn’hltcr, Wiesbaden 1985, pp. 295-313.

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of pilgrimage literature; popular piety in the luudutio on the Holy Land; history and politics in the account of the Turkish advances through Europe and a call for a new crusade; and the expansion of the known world in voyages of discovery. Characteristically, Classical historians and philos- ophers are mentioned: Demosthenes, Solon, Plato, Herodotus, Xenophon, Plutarch, Thucydides, Polybius, Livy, Tacitus and Cicero. Such figures function as excmplu, whether positive or negative, as do political and military leaders, be they from Classical or more recent history. Thus in the preface to the second edition of the R&buch, published in 1609,29 references are found to Scipio, Caesar, Alexander the Great, Achillis and even Siileyman's father, Selim the Grim, who defeated the Mameluke rulers of Egypt in 1516-17 and gained control over Syria, Egypt and the Holy Land. An educated readership, such as the ReqBbUch was aimed at, would have recog- nised the references and the exemplary nature of these firsonat, who would thus have acted as a sort of intellectual and cultural shorthand, reinforcing the already heavily didactic nature of the preface.

V

Is the RVJbuch unique in this or can the conclusions drawn from study of this preface be applied to others? A useful text for comparison is the preface of another collection of travel literature, Neuwe Welt, a compendium printed by Martin Lechler for Sigmund Feyerabend and Simon Huter in Frankfurt in 1567. It contains two accounts of German voyages to South America and one of Portuguese voyages to India. The preface starts on the theme of world exploration and conquest, with references to two exemplary rulers, Augustus and Charlemagne, whose own interest in travel and foreign coun- tries (Augustus's derives from having conquered them) is cited as proof of the value of such interest. Having established authorities for the legitimacy of travel the author of the preface writes:

Vnd auff das jede Nation vnnd Landtschafft der andere freundtschafft vii gute nachbarschafFt deste fleissiger suchet vnd begeret/hat er [God] jeder Landtschafft besondere vnd eigene gaben mitgetheilet. Dann wenn nit in jeder Landtschafft etlicher dingen mange1 vnd gebrechen gespbret/wbrden die freundtliche Nachbarschafft vnter der NationE so fleissig nicht vnterhalten werdenhondern jede stbltzer vnd auffgeblasener seyn/als die der andern freundtschat nicht bedb~tTtig.~'

Travel, then, is justified because it is part of the divine plan to promote friendship between nations. To this end God has bestowed different natural resources on different countries, compelling man to visit foreign parts to

zp R g $ k h ddp luyigcn L a d (Frankfurt a. M.: Johann Sauer for Franz Niklaus Roth, 1609). y, Nawuc Wdt, (fol. )(ij"). All other page references will be given in the text.

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obtain what he lacks. Objects of desire include not just material resources but intellectual and social ones:

DeBgleichen hat der Schdpffer jhe einen Landtschafft vber die ander begabet/ mit verstandt vnd weiBheit/das also in einer Landtschafft viel ordenlicher policeylbreuche vnd sitten gefundeddenn in der anderenlvnd hiergege in einer viel grdssere vnordenunglschand vnnd lasterfdann in der andern/dieses ist auch eine erinnerung der WeiBheit Gottes/damit eine Landscham von der andern (vmb gute policey zu erkbndigen) mdchte besuchet werden. Also lesen wir in den Historienldas die Rdmer die Gesatze der zwdlff Tafeln von den Atheniensibus empfangen. (fol. ) (4”)

The tradition that the Romans copied their laws from the Greeks is also referred to in the Re96uch preface, where it is used to legitimise the laws governing the Holy Roman Empire itself. Once again all aspects of man’s life are covered: now the argument moves from the natural world to the political one to the divine and to travel as the means of spreading knowledge of God:

Dem Jfidischen Lande hat der Schdpffer f i r allen anderen Nationen verliehen die erkanntnuR der warhdtigen vnnd seligmachenden Religionlvnnd die Juden in solchen theil der Welt gesetzeddas aller Welt mbglich gewesen/zu jnen zu kommen/hat auch ein Kdnig in Egypten von jhnen die Bficher Mosi durch Vberseher oder Dolmetscher holen lassen. (fol. ) (iij.)

This section concludes with a final reinforcement of the argument, namely a list of reasons for visiting various European countries and cities. Worthwhile destinations include Wittenberg, important for being the birthplace of Philip Melanchthon (fol. )(iijr).

Having put forward reasons for travel, the preface discusses practical means of transport. These include shipping, an art revealed to mankind in the Flood, and astronomy, a skill given by God to man to facilitate voyaging: ‘Hat also der gfitige Schdpffer solche Kunst derhalben offenbareddas er die Kauffmannschafft wolte erhbhenhd Christliche Kdnige vnd Potentaten/ dadurch an ehren vnd reichthumb zieren’ (fol. )(iij”). Now theory leads into pragmatism and propaganda: travel makes possible trade and the enhancement of individual rulers’ glory, motives which do have more immediate relevance to the colonisation of South America recounted in the compendium. The reader is then told that God’s benevolence led to the discovery of America by Amerigo Vespucci in 1497; India by Vasco da Gama in 1502; and Peru in 1530 during the reign of Emperor Charles V. South America is described in the works by Hans Staden and Ulrich Schmidel included in Neuwe Weit, so a link between the preface and the works it introduces is finally established.

Like the ReyJbuch preface, that to Neuwc Weit uses recent history to arouse interest in its narratives and demonstrate their relevance for the reader. However, some examples seem forced, one such being the introduction of 0 Bladmell Pubtisben Ltd 1996.

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the Turks in relation to the discovery of the New World. That Christians rather than their Muslim enemies colonised South America is presented as God’s plan as He wanted to spare the continent Turkish ‘Tyranney vii Abgbtterey’ (fol. )(iij”) - an ironic claim in view of the Spanish treatment of the native population described in the compendium itself. While the Turkish threat may not seem of immediate relevance to South America, its use demonstrates two things: first, how intensely the threat was felt; second, the tendency of preface authors to bring every aspect of contemporary life to bear on the marketing of a volume and on the manipulation of reader response.

Another striking aspect of the preface to Neuwe Welt is the referral of every event in human history back to God: human life is directed by Him and constitutes a demonstration of His benevolence. His prescience encompasses every detail of human activity down to the minute practicalities of travel, taken up again in the next section: the invention of ‘Horologia’ and other devices to help the voyager to journey more surely:

Vnd dieweil Gott an der erkhndigung frembder vnnd ferner Landtschafften ein besonder gefallen hatho hat er dem Menschen nicht allein Ffisse vnnd starcke Beine gegebenfsondern hat auch Thiere geschaffen darauff der Mensch reitthen kan/auff das er in kurtzer zeit ein fernere rheise dester besser voll- bringen mbchte. Hat den Zimmerieuthen nicht allein Kunst vnnd verstandt verliehen vmb Heuser vnnd Schiffehondern auch stehende Bracken zu macheddarnit durch die fliessenden StrILme die n6tzlichen rheisen nit verhin- dert wfirden. (fol. )(iiij*”)

Even famines and scarcity are His way of ensuring people leave their homes and discover new countries, as did Jacob and his family on going to Egypt (Genesis XXXI. 1-32). As in the RgJbuch Biblical history is slanted to reinforce the authority of the preface. The same tactic is adopted with examples from Ancient history: the Greeks’ conquest of the Persians and the Romans’ of the Greeks illustrate the usefulness of roads when nations invade foreign countries with the aim of conquest and the deposition of tyrannical rulers (fol. ) (vr). The whole preface thus serves to put European voyages of exploration and conquest into a long and venerable tradition sanctified by God himself.

This circuitous line of thought leads into the final case for the usefulness of geographical knowledge, the crusade against the Turks proposed by Leo X:

Aber wie vie1 Capitaneos solt man jetzund findenfdie da sage kdndten durch welche strassen diese drey exercitus mfisten gefihret werden. Wir solten die verlornen Land gewinneddie kaum wissen welche Landt verlorenfoder welche Landtschafften vnsere Vorfaren erfunden haben? (fol. ) (v’)

This may be a valid question, but travel reports on South America are unlikely to improve Western European knowledge of Eastern European

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geography, so once again a current concern is being used to advocate purchase of a book with very different contents. The hinted advocacy of an anti-Turkish campaign seventeen years prior to the R9J6ucft is further proof of the obsessive fear the Turks aroused and may reflect the anxiety caused by the Turkish siege in 1565 of Malta, headquarters of the Hospital- lers after their eviction from Rhodes. The preface ends on Feyerabend’s dedication of Neuwe Welt to the town council of Schwabisch Hall, prompted by the fact that his parents and family came from the town: he wants to honour it and his country by performing a public service in publishing the work.

To conclude, the preface to Neuwe Welt is not as far-ranging, complex and sophisticated as that to the RCy$bbuch: a comparable survey of intellectual and literary history and popular piety is lacking. Similarly, one finds a less overt attempt to mould the volume into a coherent entity, as there are only three rather than eighteen texts. However, the preface does have a purpose- ful structure, if one less obvious than that of the RtYgbuh: the value of travel; reasons for it; scientific aids; the necessity for travel (conquering and preserving the New World and the Orient for Christianity); the practical means; its results (trade and conquest). Voyages to South America are presented in the context of travel generally, much as pilgrimage reports are in the later compendium, and recent and contemporary history and politics are used to this end. It is in the focus on the pragmatic aims of politics, such as trade and conquest, that the actual contents of the reports on South America are most closely reflected. Authority is lent to the argument by references to God’s Will and to exemplary figures from Old Testament, Roman and more recent history. All this background infor- mation is mustered to persuade the reader he is purchasing an important volume relevant to his daily concerns. In other words, we see features familiar from the Rq3bbuch preface: an exhaustive introduction to the com- pendium which includes topics at first sight only marginally related to its contents, which allows its author a display of erudition and its publisher self-aggrandisement and which provides insights into the intellectual, social and political history of the age. Thus Schottenloher, in the comment quoted at the beginning of this article, was right in drawing attention to the documentary value of dedicatory prefaces. However, he fails to recognise the degree to which they constitute an independent literary form and underestimates their importance as transmitters of cultural and historical knowledge current in the sixteenth century.

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