Nuremberg

1598 · ref. 6670 — 1598. 22 leaves including some blanks or pages ruled in ink for entries. Agenda format 315 x 100 mm. stitched as issued uncut. Nuremberg: 1598. A fascinating document of a type that rarely survives: the manuscript account book for the spring 1598 Leipzig fair of Hans Straub I or the Elder 1541-1610 the prominent Nuremberg gold- and silversmith alderman and son-in-law of Wenzel Jamnitzer the best-known German goldsmith of his time. The first leaf bears Straub’s hallmark interwined initials “HS” over an arrow pointing upward within a plain shield & also containing the inscription “No. 72”. Our manuscript sheds important light on the business relations in the late 16th century between the Nuremberg goldsmiths and their trade at the Leipzig fairs. Our account book is a list of sales orders and expenditures of Nuremberg goldsmith Hans Straub the Elder during the Leipzig Easter fair held in May 1598. While Straub is not expressly named he can be identified by his hallmark on the first leaf. At the fair trade was done in goblets rings knife-sheaths cutlery jewelry gemstones etc. Several business partners are named including the Nuremberg goldsmiths Heinrich Hahn Haan David Lauer and Paulus Koch. As an example of a transaction we see that the council of Halle paid over 33 florins for a goblet. In 1596 Straub was elected Alderman of the Artisans the most elevated and honorable office to which a Nuremberg artisan could aspire. Straub retained this position until his death in 1610. In 1569 he married Anna daughter of the famous goldsmith Wenzel Jamnitzer. On his father-in-law’s death in 1585 Straub inherited his casting molds and used them extensively in his own creations. Despite his long period of activity relatively few pieces made by Hans Straub have survived see Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst 1541-1868 2007 ed. by Karin Tebbe et al. Vol. I p. 409. In fine condition. ⧠The mark is similar to Marc Rosenberg Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen Frankfurt 1925 Vol. III no. 3969. unknown