Old-fashioned in order to be modern: Seghelijn van Iherusalem and its woodcuts

Seghelijn van Jherusalem is a fourteenth-century verse narrative, extant in one manuscript and six printed editions. Since the 1983 publication of Ingrid van de Wijer’s doctoral thesis on the text, interest has increased and Seghelijn has been the subject of several studies. These investigations always concern the text, whereas the woodcuts in the printed editions have received little attention. In this contribution these woodcuts and especially the title illustrations are the main focus of interest. The first edition appeared in Delft (1483-86, Jacob Jacobszoon van der Meer), while subsequent ones were published in Antwerp (1511, Hendrick Eckert van Homberch; before-1517, attributed to Claes de Grave; 1517, Claes de Grave; 1520, Hendrick Eckert van Homberch; c. 1530-40, Hendrick Peeterssen van Middelburch). All these editions have woodcuts on the title page but not one of these was designed for this specific work. All were fifteenth-century cuts re-used in a new setting. This article argues that this was a deliberate, rather than a convenient or careless, choice: re-editions of medieval narratives were furnished with older woodcuts as indicative of the genre. This is illustrated by the edition of 1517 in which an older woodcut is framed within a more modern, contemporary woodcut border. This shows that although the printer had access to modern designs, he opted to illustrate Seghelijn with an older (indeed old-fashioned) frontispiece. Medieval and Early Modern Studie

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Investigation of a 15th century silverpoint drawing via µ-XRF

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Beroeren en bewegen. Boeken met volvelles en flappen.

Medieval and Early Modern Studie

Ruusbroec, Wendel en Bodel Nijenhuis

Medieval and Early Modern Studie

Omslag, bulletin van de Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden en het Scaliger Instituut / 2003 - no 1

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