Next week will mark the 500^th anniversary of the death of Sebastian Brant (1458-1521), best known for his 1494 Das Narrenschiff (The Ship of Fools). This moral satire consisted of 112 chapters, each presenting a different fool and representing various examples of 15^th century folly, all on a ship destined for the fictitious “fool’s paradise” land of Narragonia. While highlighting foolish behaviour of the time, Brant hoped to encourage his readers to recognise their own failings and to mend their ways. The first edition was printed in Basel by Brant’s friend Johann Bergmann von Olpe and crucially, at a time when few could read, featured woodcuts accompanying each chapter, some of which may perhaps have been by Albrecht Dürer. The depictions of fools, often wearing caps with bells or asses’ ears or holding a marotte, would have been familiar to contemporary readers. Continue reading “The Ship of Fools: an early printing sensation” →