College and Research Libraries that we may discover additional volumes at a ·later date. Thus, supplements to this bib- liography will be inevitable. A supplement containing entries for the war years, 1941-45, will also be published. The arrangement of entries is by broad subjects, and within each subject alphabet- ically by author. Each entry is numbered. On the whole it can be said that this work has been executed in conformity with sound bibliographical principles, and when com- plete, it will be of great value for Yugoslav scholars as well as for others who are famil- iar with the Serbo-Croatian language and are interesed in the literatures and cultures of the Yugoslav people.-Milimir DrazicJ Uni- versity of Kentucky Library. Printing and Publishing in Alsace Histoire de l'imprimerie alsacienne aux XVe et XV!e siecles. Par Frant;,:ois Ritter, Stras- bourg-Paris: F.-X. Le Roux, 1955. xvi, 631 p. (Publications de l'Institut des Hautes Etudes Alsaciennes, Vol. 14.) It takes some daring to attempt a compre- hensive study of the complex history of print- ing and publishing in Alsace during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Problems involved touch on so many facets of cultural and social history that it becomes difficult to master the variety of topics and to evaluate the considerable literature; it is difficult also to add substantial and new information to competent studies like Charles Schmidt's His- loire litteraire de l'Alsace (1879), Karl Schor- bach's Der Strassburger Fruhdrucker ] ohann Mentelin (1932), or Paul Kristeller's Die Strassburger Buchillustration im XV. und im Anfang des XVI. ]ahrhunderts (1888). Yet the task is highly worth while. Alsace in general, and Strasbourg in particular, are key areas in the study of fifteenth and six- teenth century history. Publishing there pro- vides dramatic illustrations for the slow dis- appearance of the medieval world, the growth of humanism and its new learning, the reli- gious controversies before and during the Reformation, the interest in Germany's niedi- eval vernacular literature possibly to be inter- preted as the by-product of rising national- ism, the increased production of contempo- rary literature, including some rather bawdy writings for popular entertainment, the ac- complishments of city-sponsored secular ed- ucation, the development of modern science paralleled by the publication of handbooks for craftsmen, and the use of book illustra- tions to make the products of the press more attractive and more saleable, and also better understood. Frant;,:ois Ritter, well known to the histo- rian of early printing through the compilation of the Repertoire des livres alsaciens du XV!e siecle de la Bibliotheque nationale de Stras- bourg (1932- ), the Catalogue des incunables alsaciens de la Bibliotheque nationale de Strasbourg (1938), and the Catalogue des in- cunables et des livres du XV!e siecle de la Bibliotheque municipalede Strasbourg (1948), and known to literary historians as the co- author with Paul Heitz of the small but ex- tremely useful Versuch einer Zusammenstel- lung der deutschen Volksbucher des 15. und 16. ]ahrhunderts (1924) is well qualified to follow in the steps of the venerable Charles Schmidt and to write a comprehensive history of Alsatian printing and publishing. His history of Alsatian printing is divided into two main parts. Part I covers the fifteenth century. In its first chapter the author sur- veys the literature on the Gutenberg question with its complicated and at times highly spec- ulative controversies over the chronology of events preceding the publication of the 42- line Bible (including the most recent dis- cussion over the Miss ale speciale ). When he discusses the part which Strasbourg may have played in Gutenberg's early attempts, the au- thor naturally shows his patriotic feelings and justifiable bias, without accepting, however, suspect evidence, like the early sixteenth cen- tury claim that the Strasbourg printer Men- telin was the real inventor of the ars nova. Chapters two to six deal with the earliest Strasbourg printers, Mente 1 in, Eggestein, Rusch, and others~ Chapter seven, the last of Part I, is devoted to Alsatians who sought their fortunes away from home, among them Sixtus Riesinger (Naples), Michael Friburg- er (Paris, where he established the first press in France together with Gering and Crantz), 166 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES ---- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~ Reinhart (Lyons) and Wenssler (in nearby Basel). Throughout Part I the author presents, and then carefully sifts, available informa- tion; he pays much attention to the connec- tion between printers in Strasbourg, their col- leagues abroad and their learned friends; he supplies data on bookmaking techniques and illustrations, which then added much to the success and fame of Strasbourg publishing. These and similar points are even more im- portant in Part II, which is devoted to the sixteenth century. Famous men like Sebastian Brant, Geiler von Kaisersperg, Thomas M ur- ner, Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, De- siderius Erasmus, and Otto Brunfels appear again and again on these pages. The first six chapters of Part II systemat- ically discuss the character and activities of Strasbourg sixteenth century enterprises. The author supplies biographical data, often add- ing to, and correcting, earlier studies; he ap- parently made excellent use of archival sources to which we find numerous refer- ences. Important titles, where formerly as- cribed to the wrong presses, are reassigned; the relations between printers and correctors, editors, authors, government and church au- thorities, and artists are fully treated, and every statement is well documented and copi- ously annotated. Indeed, the so-called "ap- pendices" (491 in number and covering pages 485 to 595) are full of information and often prove instructive, even though they seem at times unnecessary or superabundant. The seventh chapter of the second part is devoted in its entirety to French printing in Strasbourg (in the preceding chapters Fran- \ois Ritter had spoken of the interesting Re- formation tracts in English, produced away from England in a town which, in spite of rigid trade regulations, had until the middle of the sixteenth century shown a liberal at- titude towards all sides of the religious strug- gles). The eighth and ninth chapters cover the less prolific printing establishments in Hag- uenau, Colmar, Selestat, Mulhouse and Lauf- fen. The final chapter is devoted to six out- standing book illustrators: Wechtelin, Urs Graf, Weiditz, Baldung Grien, Schaufelein and Tobias Stimmer. In conclusion there is a summary "sur l'histoire de l'imprimerie en Alsace . . . et ses reactions dans les divers domaines de la vie sociale," final evidence of the author's concern with printing not as a separate phenomenon but as part of the en- tire social and intellectual history. Though filled with facts, and some figures, this book makes (in most parts) for enjoyable reading. Ritter avoids monotonous enumera- tions and generally prefers an easily flowing narrative style. Some arguments may seem overly spirited; this only added to this read- er's pleasure. Without making an effort, we noticed a few misprints, but this would seem well-nigh unavoidable in this type of study. In summary, the Histoire de l'imprimerie alsacienne is an excellent book which will prove to be very useful to students of the intellectual history of our early modern times. We regret that its value as a reference book is somewhat diminished by the absence of a subject or topical index; however, it does con- tain a careful index of authors and publisher- printers.-Rudolf Hirsch, University of Penn- sylvania Library. OTTO HARRASSOWITZ Library !\gent since 1872., supplies books and perio- dicals publisbed in West and East Germany and adjacent countries. Orders and inquiries are invited on botb new and out-of- print material. OTTO HARRASSOWITZ WIESBADEN Farmington Plan ~gent for Germany Please mention C & R L when corresponding with its advertisers.