Anton Margarita (born around 1490) was the son of a rabbi who converted first to Catholicism and then became a Protestant. He published Der gantz Jüdisch glaub [The Entire Jewish Faith] in 1530, which had a second edition the same year and a third in 1531. Princeton recently acquired a copy of the rare 1531 edition.

Margarita illustrated his text, a sort of encyclopedia of Judaism, with the same series of woodcuts used by Johann Pfefferkorn (1469-1523) who similarly renounced Judaism and wrote about it in 1508. The cuts were designed for Pfefferkorn’s Ich heyss ein buchlein der iude[n] beicht, and twenty-two years later, possibly traced (laterally reversed) and re-carved. The cuts have too many small discrepancies to be printed from the same woodblock. The title page cut for Margarita’s book was designed separately and has been attributed to the German painter Jörg Breu the Elder (ca. 1475–1537).

          Ich heyss ein buchlein (1508) on the left and Der gantz Judisch glaub (1531) right

Margarita’s book and his misinterpretation of the Jewish traditions led to enormous controversy. The author was imprisoned and later, banished from Augsburg. For better or worse, his book was reprinted many times and was widely read.

R. Po-chia Hsia comments about it in The Myth of Ritual Murder: Jews and Magic in Reformation Germany: “The intention of composing The Entire Jewish Faith, as Margaritha informed his readers, was to depict the ceremonies, prayers, and customs of the Jews based on their own books; he wanted to “expose” the “false beliefs” of the Jews and to show how they curse the Holy Roman Empire and Christians in their liturgy.”

“Margaritha’s ultimate goal was the conversion of his fellow brethren to the new faith, which he himself had accepted. The main body of the book consists of a German translation of the liturgy and prayers used by the Jewish communities in the Holy Roman Empire, spiced with extensive commentaries on the history and meanings of Jewish feasts, ceremonies, and customs, lengthy diatribes against usury and rabbinic authority, and a cornucopia of anecdotes and descriptions of contemporary Jewish communal life.”

Ich heyss ein buchlein (1508) on the left and Der gantz Judisch glaub (1531) right

“For the first time, Christians could read in German the liturgy and prayers of Jews; find out in detail the observance of the Sabbath, the Passover, Yom Kippur, the performance of circumcision, [and so on]… The Entire Jewish Faith exerted a profound influence on the evaluation of Jews by the new Lutheran church: Luther read it, praised it, recommended it, and was confirmed in his belief that both Jews and Catholics were superstitious and relied foolishly on good works for their salvation.”–R. Po-chia Hsia, The Myth of Ritual Murder: Jews and Magic in Reformation Germany (Firestone BM585.2 .H74 1988

Johann Pfefferkorn (1469-1523), Ich heyss ein buchlein der iude[n] peicht (Getruckt zu Nurnberg [Nuremberg]: Durch herr Hansen Weissenburger, Im funffhunderte[n] vn[d] achte[n] iar [1508]). Rare Books (Ex) 1580.152 nos. 86-99. On the left

Anton Margarita, Der gantz Jüdisch glaub [The Entire Jewish Faith] [Augsburg: Heynrich Steyner], 1531. Six woodcuts. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2013- in process. On the right

Arnaud Sorbin (1532-1606), Bishop of Nevers. Tractatus de monstris [The Treatise on Monsters] Paris: Apud Hieronymum de Marnef, & Gulielmum Cavellat, 1570. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2013- in process.

The Catholic Bishop Arnaud Sorbin chose fourteen monsters to promote his religious faith. Fourteen woodcuts were designed to accompany fourteen short stories, all intended to entertain a general public audience.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines monster as “a mythical creature which is part animal and part human, or combines elements of two or more animal forms. Later, more generally, as any imaginary creature that is large, ugly, and frightening.”

Printed by Gulielmum Cavellat (died 1576 or 77) and Hiérosme de Marnef (1515-1595), these cuts include a variation of Martin Luther’s monk-calf (half man half donkey); the hairy female; conjoined twins; and other prodigious births thanks, according to Sorbin, to Protestant heresy. This is one of many 16th-century volumes featuring so called monstrous births. For others, see the New York Academy of Medicine’s Telling of Wonders site: http://www.nyam.org/library/rare-book-room/exhibits/telling-of-wonders/ter4.html#sthash.aAdBRqzt.dpuf

Princeton’s volume was owned in the 17th century by P. Marie Boschetti and later, by Dr. François Moutier (1881-1961), master of the French gastroenterology, laboratory head of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris (1946-1950).
                   

Le monde fantastique, illustré par Hadol (The Fantastic World, illustrated by Hadol) (Paris: Degorce-Cadot, 1874-75). Paul Hadol (1835-1875) illustrator and Léon Beauvallet (1829-1885) editor, Graphic Arts Collection 2013- in process.

Ghouls are nothing new nor is fantasy literature. This French periodical offered amazing stories for the whole family featuring witches, sorcerers, outrageous monsters, and tales of evil things.

The illustrator was Paul Hadol (1835-1875) who created designs for many 19th century magazines including Le Gaulois, Le Journal Amusant, High Life, Le Charivari, Le Monde comique, La Vie Parisienne and L’Eclipse.

Hadol, like many of his contemporaries, worked on a variety of commercial assignments including not so fantastic novels, posters, and advertising brochures. Our Cotsen Library holds an accordion folded alphabet book designed by Hadol: Le jardin d’acclimatation ([Paris]: Au Journal amusant, 20, rue Bergère : Et chez H. Plon, éditeur, 8 rue Garancière, [186-?]). 1 folded sheet 16 x 252 cm., folded to 16 x 11 cm. Cotsen Children’s Library (CTSN) Moveables 19 317.

A few of his plates are below. Note in particular the ghoul eating the heart of a just-married woman, reminiscent of The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli (1741-1825) from 1781.