Mattaus Schwartz, Livre des costumes

[mmcnealy]

Thanks to strawberrykaren for pointing me to this resource.

The Bibliotech Nationale du France (aka the BnF) has color plates from Matthais Schwartz's trachtenbuch online as part of its l'enfance du Moyen Age online exhibit. :D 

I've used a online translator to translate the text, and then I've paraphrased it into comprehensible English.

Matthaus at 2

He fell into a coma and his family thought he was dead, so his grandmother took him to the graveyard to be buried. Since it was November, it took a while to dig the grave, during which the cold tempretures revived him and he was found to be alive.

Matthaus at 3 and a half
Here he is sick with a fever and being fanned by his older sister to help drop the fever. Note the child sized furniture and the table for his toys.

Matthaus at 5 and four months
Matthaus learning his alphabet in 1502. He sits infront of a window and writes on a whitewashed tablet, his red school bag at his feet.

Matthaus at 9 years and four months
In 1506 he tires of his cruel tutor, a priest, and after destroying the priests garden, runs away. He lives by begging from the farmers and watching the cows and sheep.( I want to know where his mother was!)

Matthaus at 12 years
Matthaus decides to become a monk and practices the Mass in his bedroom with a miniture altar complete with statues of saints and a retable.

Matthaus at 13 years and seven months 
Here he is entering the door of the college of Saint Moritz, 

Matthaus at 14 years old
At 14 years old, Matthaus started to work on his father's accounts. Here he is sampling wine before buying it.

Citation
Matthaus Schwartz, Livre des costumes, Allemagne, début du XVIe siècle
Paris, BnF, département des Manuscrits, Allemand 211, folios: various

While searching for more online pictures from this book at the BnF, I ran across a publication of his autobiogaphy, for $26, how can you go wrong, especially since it promises more color pictures?

Un banquier mis à nu : Autobiographie de Matthäus Schwarz, bourgeois d'Ausbourg (Paperback)
by Philippe Braunstein 

Comments

[mirazandar.livejournal.com]

his sister's dress is pretty

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

I like his sister's dress too. :)

[rectangularcat]

you must post your impressions of this book - maybe in 4 months I can get it for myself!

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Sure, you bet! That reminds me, I've got some other reviews to post too.

[gea-gilwen.livejournal.com]

"In 1506 he tires of his cruel tutor, a priest, and after destroying the priests garden, runs away. He lives by begging from the farmers and watching the cows and sheep.( I want to know where his mother was!)"

As far as I can read his handwriting, his mother died in 1502.
See "Matthäus at 5 and four months", a part of his handwriting (that is, the part that I can decipher) reads "Anno 1502 [illegible] Junius als mein Mutter starb da lernet ich das a.b.c.".
In translation: "In the year 1502 ... when my mother died, I learned the a.b.c." (I suppose she died in June.)

That said, I hate 16th century handwritings. I want to be able to read them and just can't get used to them.

Greetings, Gea

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Ah, that would explain why his mother wasn't around when he ran away from school.

I really want to learn how to read them, but its usually an excercise in frustration.

[landsknecht-po.livejournal.com]

Nice, being in charge of quality control for a wine merchant at 14. That is my idea of a good job.

[jillwheezul.livejournal.com]

In an interesting moment of synchronicity, I found a reference to this book this morning and was going to order on ILL. Maybe I should just buy it. I'm not sure, though, if it is a reproduction of the originals or one of the two later copies.

[jillwheezul.livejournal.com]

More info - "Inside Out: Clothes, Dissimulation, and the Arts of Accounting in the Autobiography of Matthaus Schwarz, 1496-1574" by Valentin Groebner in Representations No 66. Spring 1999 pages 100 - 121 (on JSTOR) mentions:

"Today, the original of Schwarz's Book of Clothes is in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum in Brunswick, Germany. Two copies exist, both made in 1704, one in the Niedersachsen Federal Library in Hanover, the other in the Bibliotheque nationale in Paris."

Comparing the color links you have to the August Fink's reproductions in his books show some differences. It is quite clear on the entering door of the college link, as what I presume to be the original has its text displayed entirely differently. The colors seem to be close, but Matthaus checking out the wine is supposed to have on 'grüne hosen'. (They look yellow on my monitor.) It might be fun to do a side by side comparison with the Bildindex links to be sure. One wonders why there might not be a mention of the French book being a repro if it isn't the original? Or are we the only folk in the world to maybe care? :)

This is very cool Marion! Thanks!

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

I think we are probably the only folk in the world who really care.

The hosen look yellow to me, perhaps they have faded over time?

Does the August Fink book have them in color?

You're welcome, I thought it was too good to keep a secret. I still need to post this to the GRC :D

[jillwheezul.livejournal.com]

The Fink book is sadly in b/w but with descriptions of the colors. Color is so subjective, but the other color details seem to match up exactly, as far as I have looked. This is why I'm interested in the newer book with color, but have a curiosity about which item is reproduced. :)

As always, you rock!