Incunabula in the Zesiger Collection

The incunabla stem from famous workshops such as the one belonging to Peter Schöffer in Mainz, the successor of Gutenberg, or the workshop of Nicolas Jenson in Venice, and are printed in the famous Antiqua font. Jenson was probably a master craftsman with Johann von Speyer; the Augustine print exists in the famous colophon, which he and his brother Wendelin used; Wendelin von Speyer printed two editions of Cicero. The incunabla are accessible in the online catalog

The collection includes five prints from the Koberger'schen press in Nuremberg. A particular rarity from Augsburg is a Hortus Sanitatis, printed in German in 1488 by Schönsperger. The 4th German Bible by Günther Zainer, another Augsburg printer, is also available. Anton Sorg is represented with the first German edition of Imitatio Christi by Thomas a Kempis. Another important incunable is the first German translation of Rolevinck's Fasciculus Temporum, published by Bernhard Richel in Basel in 1488.
Of the four printers from Strasbourg, Mentelin, Eggestein, Rusch and Flach, Mentelin's publication of The Etymologies of Isidor of Seville is especially worth mentioning. This is the earliest illustrated book to appear from Strasbourg, created by the city's first printer.

Two more extremely rare items must be mentioned: a volume with two prints by J. Zainer in Ulm and H. Eggestein in Strasbourg, which were published apparently as one item, and the rare text by Blondus on ancient Rome, printed in Mantua by De'Micheli.