Week 10



From the Dutchman J.H. Linschoten's East Indian travel account entitled Itinerario, printet in Amsterdam in 1596 with a wealth of illustrations and maps. This beautifully coloured copy from The Royal Library is extremely well preserved. Linschoten spent a number of years in the Portuguese trading colony of Goa on the west coast of India. Here a scene with distinguished Chinese mandarins.
University Library Division, Folio.

Week 11



"Morskinskinna" - the Rotten Vellum - is the name given to this manuscripts, written in Iceland at the end of the thirteenth century. Given to Frederik III by Bishop of Skálholt, Brynjólfur Sveinsson, together with about ten other manuscripts, it is part of the oldest core of the collection in the Royal Library. It is one of the most important manuscripts containing the sagas of the Norwegian kings and is was used by Frederik III's Norwegian historiographer Thormod Torfæus.
The Manuscript Department, Gl. kongelige Samling 1009, folio. See more about the manuscript

Week 12



A Chinese comic strip with Walt Disney figures, printed in Shanghai c. 1947. Tanglaoya (Donald Duck) og Milaoshu (Mickey Mouse) are selling the newspaper Zhengqi ribao (Latest events of today).
The Oriental Collection, OA 102-1879, oktavo.

Week 13



One of the greatest international treasures of the Music Collection: An autograph manuscript of Johann Sebastian Bach with the score for Cantata no. 166 Mein Hertze schwimmt im Blut (BWV 199), composed for performance on the eleventh Sunday after Trinity, 1714. It belonged to Bach's son C.Ph.E. Bach and was acquired by the Music Department at the latest in 1842 with either Peter Grønland's or C.E.F. Weyse's collections. Detail of the beginning of the cantata.
The Music and Theatre Department, C I 615 (mu 6701.0731). See more about the manuscript

Week 14



Apokalypsis Sancti Johannis (The Revelations of St. John) - illustrations and the Latin text printed from blocks. From the dating of the paper, c. 1470-80, but printed from an older set of blocks. The book reads like a regular comic strip, since the texts are related to the individual figures. The reproduction here illustrates chapter six, where the first two seals are broken: "And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer ... And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." The little 'e' in the upper right corner is the gathering signature.
The Manuscript Department, Rare Book Colletions, The Incunable collection.

Week 15



The War Book. The first part of the book is lavishly illustrated, and the successful combination of Lorentz Benedicht's printing and the illuminated illustrations, some in empty spaces left in the printing, others on large folded plates, makes it a unique monument of the art of the book in Denmark. Handwritten notes indicate that the book passed in inheritance to Christian IV, who also used it as intended, since the two sections dealing with "Ritterrecht" and "Reuterrecht" form the basis of his military ordinances of April 10, 1611.
The manuscript of part one is in The Manuscript Department, Gl. kongelige Samling 351, folio.
See more about the book.

Week 16



One of J.H.E. Bernstorff's numerous French books with engraved illustrations, Erasmus of Rotterdam's The Praise of Folly in a French translation from 1751. Engravings after drawings by Charles Eisen in rococo frames. Red morocco binding decorated in gold with Bernstorff's arms and a lace pattern. The title page.
The Manuscript Department, Rare Book Collections, kvarto.

Week 17



From the so-called Psalterium feriatum, a lavishly decorated Book of Hours made in Ghent-Brügge c. 1500-35. All the pages are elegantly decorated, and among the numerous miniatures framed in architectural perspectives, there are seven which depict the mortal sins of Christianity. This money-hungray merchant symbolizes greed (avaritia).
The Manuscript Department, Gl. kongelige Samling 1605, kvarto.


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