Das Mittelalterliche Hausbuch / The Medieval Housebook →
“Medieval Housebook” is the common name of a vellum manuscript written in ca. 1480 and preserved now in the Kupferstichkabinett (copperplate cabinet) of Wolfegg, Germany. According to Waldburg-Wolfegg1, the MH rather presents the Renaissance than medieval times. And it is less a “housebook” but more an extended “armourer-guide-book” (“Büchsenmeisterbuch”)2.
It shows illustrations of civilan life too. Like a couple in love, the boy and the death, buffoons, the effects of planets on man’s fate, and so on.
But most detailed are the representations of production sites, armour, technical tools and the use of this all in a war campaign. The chances of motives and the mood of the artist seemed to be more responsible for the collection choice than anything else. The artist obviouly was in love with technology.
