A block book from the University Library collection.
© UB der LMU München
Germany’s third-largest collection of block books
A block book is a book containing illustrations and text that are printed from woodcuts. A distinction is drawn between chiro-xylographic block books (where the illustrations were printed from woodcuts but the text was added by hand), xylographic block books (where both the illustrations and the text were cut into the wood) and typo-xylographic block books (where the illustrations were printed from woodcuts and the text was set in type). The lines between these methods are, however, not always clear. The books date back as far as the 15th century. Some academics put them as early as 1420/1430, before Gutenberg advanced the art of book printing, while others argue in favor of a later time. Block book production died out around 1530.
Worldwide, nearly 40 block books in roughly a hundred different editions are known. The University Library in Munich is home to nine titles in eleven editions, making this the third-largest collection of block books in Germany – after those of the Bavarian State Library and Berlin’s Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings).
For more information, please visit the University Library website.