Annotations

This is the transcription of a partially illustrated manuscript from the Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg with the number Cod. I.6.2°2. It consists of two parts: The first one from 1523 was written by Jörg Wilhalm, the second from 1564 by Lienhart Sollinger. Due to copyright restraints, I cannot show the according images, therefore this is a text-only version.

The manuscript

The first part of the manuscript by Jörg Wilhalm is divided into three segments. The first one is illustrated and contains descriptive captions. Quite often, both of the shown fencers have their own text. Curiously, it frequently says "als du es vnden gmaltt sichst" (as you see painted below) although the illustrations are uniformly always above the text. The two following segments without illustrations feature the teachings of master Johannes Liechtenauer, partially in the same form as it is known from other manuscripts (e.g. 44 A 8 – Peter von Danzig, 3227a, Sigmund Ringeck, Hans von Speyer), and partially with altered verses and different commentaries.

The second part consists of the fechtbuch by Lienhart Sollinger, and it is widely identical to Paurenfeindt's print from 1516 (s.a. Rainer Leng, p. 80). This part has been bound together with the earlier Wilhalm parts at a later date. Obviously, the sequence of some leaves got mixed up in the process: Fol. 41 is located after fol. 15, and foll. 70–72 can be found after fol. 48. The re-binding might have been initiated by Paulus Hector Mair who mentions himself twice as the owner. Since these remarks are on foll. 2r and 41v, therefore in the Wilhalm part, we can assume – according to Hans-Peter Hils – that the current state of the codex only came to pass at a later date while binding it (Hils, p. 50).
Additionally, the manuscript contains a leaf erroneously foliated as 70 after fol. 69 as well as 40 empty and unnumbered intermediate leaves (Leng, p. 79 f).

Jörg Wilhalm

The Augsburg codex is very similar to quite some extent to manuscript Cgm 3711 of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich. The latter however is far more substantial and contains also parts about fighting in harness and on horseback. The illustrations in both of the manuscripts are of high quality and are very much alike according to the stances of the fighters. Only the figures in the manuscript from Munich wear more fanciful or even grotesque costumes. The order of techniques does not correspond the Augsburg manuscript, some leaves were verifiably bound in the wrong order: fol. 41 (see above) is in the incorrect position, and foll. 47 and 48 have been transposed. I have corrected these two; any other deviation I have left untouched.

Lienhart Sollinger

As for the shifts and switches in the Sollinger part, I have also refrained from corrections. The alterations were partly only quite minute and partly rather considerable so that I found it impossible to guess the original arrangement. In order to compare Paurenfeindt's printed version with Sollinger's manuscript, I have made use of the Glasgow print (E.1939.65.357). Since it did not provide me with neither pagination nor foliation, I made one up myself, starting with the first printed page. A commentary in the manuscript itself (before fol. 50r) claims the copy to be incomplete. Indeed foll. 10r, 23v und 24r of the print are missing in the manuscript. However, it contains an additional six pages (foll. 67r – 69v) that are absent from the print. The corresponding illustrations show a distinctive different character. Usually, the illustrations in the manuscript match the woodcuts from the print to a very high degree. These printed illustrations are always on the left hand side. In a comparing listing the following differences appear between Paurenfeindt's print and Sollinger's manuscript:

The Transcription

The transcription follows the original as closely as possible. I have not dissolved the letter "v" in either "u" or "v". In comparison to other manuscripts, this one contains only very few special characters, e.g. above the letters u or w. I have refrained from displaying these.
In a number of places words are rendered only incomplete, sometimes in the digital data I worked from, and sometimes already in the original in which some parts were lost or have become illegible because of cropping or the bookbinding process.

Due to bookbinding and cropping processes some minor parts of the text are missing. I have tried to fill in these gaps as good as possible in square brackets.

I am profoundly indebted to Anton Kohutovic. Without his substantial help and support this project would not have been possible. Thank you very much.

Sources

Hans-Peter Hils: Meister Johann Liechtenauers Kunst des langen Schwertes.
Rainer Leng (Compiler): Katalog der deutschsprachigen illustrierten Handschriften des Mittelalters, Band 4/2, Lieferung 1/2 – 38. Fecht- und Ringbücher. C. H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 2008

Dierk Hagedorn, September 2009