Oswald of Wolkenstein: Manuscript A

Oswald of Wolkenstein Manuscript A

The work at hand is the first complete color study edition of the oldest surviving Liederhandschrift or “song manuscript” consisting of 100 songs with notes, which are transmitted to us in Codex Vindobonensis 2777. This is the key manuscript for any research into Oswald von Wolkenstein (1376/77–1445). The precious original can now be simultaneously stored and made accessible thanks to the facsimile edition.

The manuscript originating from 1425 was probably written at Oswald’s behest, like the newer Innsbruck Codex B. Now that Ms. B is no longer considered merely a corrected and expanded copy of Ms. A, but a compilation of the same separate texts, it is evident that any further textual study must take Ms. A. into account. The significance of the manuscript lies not only in the very important transmission of the texts and notes, which with the help of this edition can be read for the first time without consulting the original, but rather in the artistic furnishings, which are simple yet impressive.

The portrait of the poet on the interior side of the front cover is particularly important for the history of Tirolean illumination. It is the oldest authentic portrait of a German poet.