''Hortulus Animae'' ( en, Little Garden of the Soul, german: Seelengärtlein, french: Jardin des Âmes, pl, Raj duszny) was the Latin title of a prayer book also available in German. It was very popular in the early sixteenth century, printed in many versions, also abroad in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

s and

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

History

An earlier well-known work of devotion and of moral instruction, richly illustrated with stories, was ''"Der Selen Würtzgart"'', first printed at

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

in 1483. The meaning of the title is "Herb garden of the Soul", which is similar to later titles. The first known edition of ''Hortulus Animae'', dated 13 March 1498, was printed at

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

by Wilhelm Schaffener of

Ribeauvillé Ribeauvillé (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Rappschwihr''; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the de ...

(''Rappschwihr''), followed by German versions appearing in 1501. Later editions contained woodcuts by the well-known engravers

Hans Springinklee Hans Springinklee (c.1490/c.1495 – c.1540) was a German artist from Nuremberg, best known for his woodcuts.British Museum bio, see refs below. He was a pupil of Albrecht Dürer. Life Little written evidence remains of Springinklee's life ...

and

Erhard Schön Erhard Schön ( 1491–1542) was a German woodcut designer and painter. Schön was born in Nuremberg as the son of painter Max Schön III. He probably started to learn his trade as an artist in the workshop of his father. He was clearly influenced ...

, with beautiful miniatures in some existing manuscript examples, like the one at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(Cod. Bibl. Pal. Vindobonensis. 2706, 1907), which has been reproduced as facsimile by Friedrich Dornhöffer. ''Hortulus Animae polonice'', a Polish version written by

Biernat of Lublin Biernat of Lublin ( Polish: ''Biernat z Lublina'', Latin ''Bernardus Lublinius'', ca. 1465 – after 1529) was a Polish poet, fabulist, translator, and physician. He was one of the first Polish-language writers known by name, and the most int ...

, printed and published in 1513 by

Florian Ungler Florian Ungler (died 1536 in Kraków) and Kasper Hochfeder were printers from Bavaria that after 1510 became pioneers of printing and publishing in the Polish language. *1512 ''Introductio in Ptolomei Cosmographiam'', with maps of America *1513 ...

, was believed to be the first book printed in the

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

(it is the second). The last known copy was lost during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The work is mentioned briefly at the end of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's short story "

The Man of the Crowd "The Man of the Crowd" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe about a nameless narrator following a man through a crowded London. It was first published in 1840. Plot summary The story is introduced with the epigraph ''"Ce grand ma ...

References

External links

* ''Catholic Encyclopedia'
''Hortulus Animæ'' - Little Garden of the Soul
{{Authority control 1513 books 16th-century Christian texts Latin religious words and phrases Devotional literature

History

See also

References

External links