Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1528)

What does he not express in monochromes, that is in black lines? Shade, light, radiance, projections, depressions... He even depicts which cannot be depicted: fire; rays of light; thunderstorms; sheet lightning; thunderbolts ... characters and emotions ... These things he places before your eyes by the most felicitous lines, black ones at that, in such manner that, were you to spread pigments, you would injure the work. (Erasmus of Rotterdam, see Bartrum, p. 13)

The Apocalypse (see lots 61-75), Dürer's great series of woodcuts on the Revelation of Saint John, appeared two years before 1500, at a time when many thought the Last Judgement imminent. From the beginning it was praised for its innovative approach, both artistically and technically. It was the first book in history to be created and published by an artist himself, pushing the boundaries of what had hitherto been thought possible in the medium, and was a tremendous popular and critical success. By publishing it in both Latin and German, Dürer made it accessible to the widest possible audience and through his agents he distributed it throughout Germany and abroad.

A number of the impressions in this collection bear the initials of William Esdaile (1758-1837), the great 19th century collector and connoisseur.