Newly opened historical picture room

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Johann Michael Stock : Title copper for volume 13, 1762

Newly opened Historical Bildersaal or shortly Historical Bildersaal / Historical Picture Hall was a book series in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was started in 1692 as the "newly opened historical picture hall" and continued until 1782 with a total of 17 volumes . In some cases, individual volumes were again divided into parts 1 and 2, so that a total of significantly more than 17 different books appeared.

Publication history

In 1692, the historian Andreas Lazarus von Imhof (1656–1704) published the first volume of his historical work, which subsequently enjoyed enormous popularity. The work was initially designed with five parts. Imhof himself, who was the Privy Councilor at the court of the Duke of Pfalz-Sulzbach, was probably still involved in the first five volumes, the sixth and seventh volumes appeared after his death. The work that "from the beginning of the world bit on our times" wanted to describe all historical - and current - events was continued until 1782. The success of the series can be seen in the numerous editions: the third edition of the first volumes published to date was published as early as 1704, the last new edition was probably published from 1740 to 1744.

From 1703, a French translation edition Le Grand Theater Historique, Ou Nouvelle Histoire Universelle, was published in Leiden .

Content and intention

According to the preface, Imhof initially endeavored to publish a history textbook that should contain the (predominantly European) world history from creation to the reign of Leopold I (then Emperor of the HRR ). The target group was especially the youth, as can be seen from the title of the first edition: "The teaching-hungry youth, therefore, published for peculiar use and enlightenment." The work was illustrated with an unusually large number of copperplate engravings . The first volume was already "made recognizable in more than 900 pieces of copper" and the following volumes should z. Some even contain more copperplate engravings. After Imhof's death in 1704, the series continued to be published and new volumes appeared. Thus, among contemporaries in the 18th century, the work acquired more the character of a current mirror of the times than of a historical introduction, as it was originally intended by Imhof. The volumes for the early 18th century were also much more detailed than the volumes for the older history: Whereas the first volumes had dealt with hundreds of years, volume 7 only included the years 1705–1713/14, later volumes should even be include fewer years.

Similar to the better-known work of the 17th and early 18th centuries - the Theatrum Europaeum - Imhof's chronicle was also a mixture of politics, everyday history and numerous other aspects. In his works, for example, in addition to the description of major battles, depictions of freak births, comets or criminal trials can also appear.

Importance of the work

The historical picture hall is popular with book collectors and is also used occasionally by historians. The historical picture hall in its historical parts forms a seamless connection to the epochal work of the Theatrum Europaeum, which appeared from 1633 to 1738 and covered the period from 1618 to 1718. Nevertheless, the descriptions of the Historisches Bildersaal (as well as those of the Theatrum Europaeum) can only be used as a source to a limited extent . The numerous illustrations (several thousand) are of interest in the contemporary history depictions of the early 18th century.

Expense overview

tape Period covered output
I. II. III.
1. Creation - the birth of Christ 1692 1712 1744
2. Birth of Christ - 800 1693
3. 800-1347 1694
4th 1347-1658 1695
4. [2] 1658-1705 1695
5. 1658-1705 1701
6th 1700-1710 1710
6. [2] 1705-1711 1714
7th 1705-1714 1719
7.2 1709-1714 1719
8th. 1714-1718 1740
8.2 1719-1723 1740
9. 1723-1733 circa 1740
9.2 1729-1733 circa 1740
10. 1734-1743 1744
11. 1744-1749 1752
11.2 1747-1749 1752
12. 1749-1756 1761
13. 1756-1760 1762
14th 1761-1765 1766
15th 1765-1770 1773
16. 1771-1775 1779
17th 1776-1777 1782

literature

  • Meier, Hans Jakob: The book illustration of the 18th century in Germany and the dissolution of the traditional history picture (Kunstwissenschaftliche Studien 60), Munich 1994.

Web links

Commons : Newly opened historical picture hall  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ A b c Title page of the first volume: Andreas Lazarus Imhof: Newly opened historical picture room , Bd. 1, Nuremberg 1692 [title page].
  2. ↑ Regarding the last edition of the complete work, the author has no reliable information. The statement is based on research in the GVK .
  3. ↑ Many descriptions seem to be rather imprecise, e.g. Partly also partisan, although the work pretends to be an "impartial description".
  4. ↑ Information according to BSB - OPAC .