A sixteenth-century book of trades
Subtitle: das ständebuch
By: [Hans Sachs] ; translated, with an introduction by Theodore K. Rabb.
Contributors: Rabb, Theodore K.; Amman, Jost, 1539-1591.
Publisher: The Society for the Promotion of Science and Scholarship
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Palo Alto, Calif
Language: eng; ger
Number of pages: 229
ISBN-13: 9780930664282
Subjects: Occupations -- Poetry
Genres: Poetry
Work titles: Eygentliche Beschreibung aller Stände.
Description: This extraordinary book of verses by Hans Sachs and engravings by Jost Ammam offers a vivid portrait of city life in Renaissance Germany. Covering 114 ranks (such as "king") and trades (including "thimblemaker"), it provides a unique cross-section of the daily life and social attitudes of the 16th century.Through words and pictures, the reader can experience at first hand one of the first instances of the small-town outlook that was to be an essential part of European culture for centuries. Mixing popular attitudes, such as the contempt for lawyers, Jews, and beggars, with precise descriptions of occupations that range from clockmaking to fishing, the book opens a direct window into the distant past.Das Standebuch was also a remarkable pioneering venture by one of the leading publishers of the day, Sigmund Feyerabend. Its complex publication history, as well as the implications of its contents, are unraveled in the Introduction by Theodore K. Rabb, who in this book has also produced the first complete translation into modern English of the doggerel verse for which Sachs was famous.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.