An Investigation of a Printer’s Block (Manchester, John Rylands Library, 17252)
Housed in the United Kingdom, at the John Rylands Library in Manchester (item number 17252), the xylographic printing block that we study in this article has an uncertain date. Some scholars believe that it dates to the fifteenth century and that it is, consequently, the oldest extant woodblock prin...
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Société de Langues et de Littératures Médiévales d'Oc et d'Oil
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Perspectives Médiévales |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/peme/22520 |
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| author | Emerson Storm Fillman Richards |
| author_facet | Emerson Storm Fillman Richards |
| author_sort | Emerson Storm Fillman Richards |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Housed in the United Kingdom, at the John Rylands Library in Manchester (item number 17252), the xylographic printing block that we study in this article has an uncertain date. Some scholars believe that it dates to the fifteenth century and that it is, consequently, the oldest extant woodblock printing apparatus. Other scholars believe that it was made in the eighteenth century and it imitates the medieval iconography. Lacking more scientific investigations, the exact date of the woodblock cannot be established. Our article investigates both possibilities of dating in regard to the iconographic tradition (the carved image on the block represents a scene from the life of St. John, largely inspired by the illustrated Apocalypses of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries) and of our understanding of the block. We examine, therefore, the status of the block as an object that is an authentic fifteenth-century object and as an eighteenth-century imitation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fdb78ec42f3e466f9294490a37d416e4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2262-5534 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Société de Langues et de Littératures Médiévales d'Oc et d'Oil |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Perspectives Médiévales |
| spelling | doaj-art-fdb78ec42f3e466f9294490a37d416e42025-01-13T15:29:43ZengSociété de Langues et de Littératures Médiévales d'Oc et d'OilPerspectives Médiévales2262-55342020-01-014110.4000/peme.22520An Investigation of a Printer’s Block (Manchester, John Rylands Library, 17252)Emerson Storm Fillman RichardsHoused in the United Kingdom, at the John Rylands Library in Manchester (item number 17252), the xylographic printing block that we study in this article has an uncertain date. Some scholars believe that it dates to the fifteenth century and that it is, consequently, the oldest extant woodblock printing apparatus. Other scholars believe that it was made in the eighteenth century and it imitates the medieval iconography. Lacking more scientific investigations, the exact date of the woodblock cannot be established. Our article investigates both possibilities of dating in regard to the iconographic tradition (the carved image on the block represents a scene from the life of St. John, largely inspired by the illustrated Apocalypses of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries) and of our understanding of the block. We examine, therefore, the status of the block as an object that is an authentic fifteenth-century object and as an eighteenth-century imitation. https://journals.openedition.org/peme/22520Apocalypseblockbookshistory of the bookliterary reception |
| spellingShingle | Emerson Storm Fillman Richards An Investigation of a Printer’s Block (Manchester, John Rylands Library, 17252) Perspectives Médiévales Apocalypse blockbooks history of the book literary reception |
| title | An Investigation of a Printer’s Block (Manchester, John Rylands Library, 17252) |
| title_full | An Investigation of a Printer’s Block (Manchester, John Rylands Library, 17252) |
| title_fullStr | An Investigation of a Printer’s Block (Manchester, John Rylands Library, 17252) |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Investigation of a Printer’s Block (Manchester, John Rylands Library, 17252) |
| title_short | An Investigation of a Printer’s Block (Manchester, John Rylands Library, 17252) |
| title_sort | investigation of a printer s block manchester john rylands library 17252 |
| topic | Apocalypse blockbooks history of the book literary reception |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/peme/22520 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT emersonstormfillmanrichards aninvestigationofaprintersblockmanchesterjohnrylandslibrary17252 AT emersonstormfillmanrichards investigationofaprintersblockmanchesterjohnrylandslibrary17252 |