Calendar
Medium
Hand-colored woodcut and letterpress in black and red, with pen and ink, and metal and string elements, on cream and tan laid papers, in original full alum-tawed pigskin over beveled wooden boards, sewn on raised thongs, blind tooled ‘all-over’ with small tools in an H-frame layout, with two brass hook-clasp fastenings, and hand-sewn headbands
Dimensions
28.6 × 20.5 cm (11 5/16 × 8 1/8 in.)
Classification
book
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
63307
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Johannes Regiomontanus published his secular bestseller, the 1474 Calendar, in Latin and German editions. Both include three scientific instruments used to measure time throughout Europe and a lunar volvelle diagram with a stack of moving dials. The final woodcut in the book is the more flexible universal dial shown here. The articulated brass arm with a modern string attached could be positioned to tell time at most European latitudes; it was definitely used, as the color beneath the arm is wor...