In May of 1493 appeared in the Latin language one of the earliest voluminous books, fully illustrated with 1809 woodcuts printed from 645 woodblocks: The Nuremberg Chronicle.
The story of this book is a story of superlatives. Hartmann Schedel, a medical doctor in Nuremberg who owned the most important private collection of books in all of Europe was the author. His library made the writing of this book possible. The writing and production of this book was teamwork. Among the more famous cooperators were Wilhelm Pleydenwurff and the painter and expert woodcutter Michael Wolgemut (1434-1519) who became the first noted book illustrator. His most famous apprentice up to 1489 was Albrecht Dürer who is supposedly contributed two woodcuts to the Chronicle. Poet Konrad Celtis contributed the German text which was published in December of the same year.
