ROGEL, Hans the elder.
Capital und Versal Buech, allerhanndt grosser und kleiner Alphabeth, zue den Hauptschrifften und Büechern, dessgleichen in Canntzleyen unnd gemein, zuegebrauchen ganntz zierlich geordiniert.
Augsburg, Johann Jacob Schönig, [1680/94, printed from the woodblocks of 1568]. Oblong folio (21 x 34 cm). With a richly calligraphic woodcut title-page (18 x 28 cm), with text in white fraktur lettering on black, with a white panel at the foot with the letterpress imprint in a fraktur type; and 9 (of 10) full-page woodcuts (about 17 x 25.5 cm) showing alphabets in white on black, one dated 1568: 8 with decorated gothic capitals (versals: 22-150 mm) and 1 with textura capitals, textura lowercase and roman capitals, all versos blank. With a small and perhaps fragmentary manuscript on parchment (2 ll., 11.5 x 13.5 cm, written on both sides): a Protestant copybook written (soon?) after 1557, probably in Basle or vicinity, with 7 writing samples, including alphabets of capitals and minuscules, the first two pages in fraktur gothic styles, and the last two in humanistic styles. Vellum (ca. 1985?), in a cloth slipcase. [10 (of 11)] ll.
€ 4,750
Sixth known copy of Johann Jacob Schönig's edition of a stunningly decorative Augsburg writing master's woodcut copybook, devoted primarily to decorated gothic capitals (versals), printed in the period 1680-1694 from the original woodblocks of the first edition of 1568. Hans Rogel the elder (1532-1592), writing master, school teacher, poet, wood-block cutter, engraver, printer and publisher at Augsburg cut the woodblocks and probably executed the lettering himself. All the lettering examples and the title-page are printed from large, richly calligraphic woodcuts with their lettering in white on black. Nine of the ten examples display versals (the missing leaf supplied in reproduction), including complete alphabets in three sizes. The final leaf displays alphabets of textura capitals, textura minuscules and roman capitals. As early as 1779 Paul von Stetten described Rogel's Capital und Versal Buech as "besonders fein geschnitten" and said that if Rogel executed the lettering himself he "ist er billig den zierlichsten Schreibmeistern beyzuzählen". He thought it good enough to be the work of Caspar Brinner (1565-1610), the greatest Augsburg writing master of the second half of the century, apparently not knowing Brinner was only about three years old in 1568.
All editions should apparently contain 11 leaves, but many contain only 10 and some fewer. Some have also been bound with additional leaves that do not belong to the edition. There appear to be only 3 complete copies of the present edition.
An early owner skilfully wrote out alphabets in the fore-edge margins of 2 leaves and phrases at the foot of one. It seems likely to be the copy owned by Jan Willem Six van Vromade (1872-1936). Lacking leaf "2" as noted, professionally and unobtrusively restored in 1984 and probably rebound soon after: the tattered fore-edge margins of several leaves were restored and a couple gaps in the right border of the title-page filled in with black ink. A small brown smudge in the unnumbered first page of versals (22 mm) slightly affects small bits of 4 letters, but in general the woodcuts remain in good condition. Berlin Kat. 4799; Bonacini 1548 (Berlin copy); Doede 21 note; Hollstein, German, 34, KVK & WorldCat (4 copies: 2 lacking 1 leaf); Van Stockum, Cat. bibl. J.W. Six de Vromade, part 1 (16-21 November 1925), lot 407 (the present copy?); cf. Paul von Stetten, Kunstgewerbe und Handwerksgeschichte ... Augsburg (1779), vol. 1, p. 23 (1655/68 ed.).
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