Travelogue, copy for printing, c. 1481/82

With this manuscript we have the final text version in which Hans Tucher (1428-1491) completes the transformation of his individual travelogue into a guide designed for pilgrims. It went through three text stages, from the first, which is preserved in the original in the Coburg autograph, to an intermediate stage that is in a manuscript kept in London, and on to this Nuremberg manuscript, which also served as a copy for printing.

Before the text went into print, the text was subjected to careful revision again, with the participation of Nuremberg council clerk Jörg Spengler. Stylistically he contributed a great deal to the final version.

A new addition was a foreword in which Tucher appears as author and source. To immediately dispel all accusations that such a journey was secularly motivated, Tucher stresses that he had travelled "solely for the glory of God and for the salvation of my soul, and not out of glory, curiosity or other frivolity". He shared his experiences in book form so that like-minded pilgrims could prepare better for the journey using his report and the practical information.

The manuscript remained in the family's possession and was virtually unknown. During the Second World War it was kept with other family items in the vault at the Tucher-Palais on Egidienplatz, where it survived the bombing of Nuremberg in 1945 with just minor damage.

Randall Herz

To the digitised copy