Reproducing a popular late 15th-century pamphlet
The second publication from the Press is based on "Dracole Waida", a pamphlet first published in Nüremberg in 1488. The booklet presents Vlad III, Voivode of Wallachia, various crimes before his death and was used as a propaganda instrument. The popularity of the work is proven by the different print runs up to the 16th century in various imperial German cities. Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler, was the person who inspired the famous fictitious vampire, Count Dracula.
This pamphlet is a recreation based on the original German editions, with 12 pages. The text was all hand composed with moveable type and printed on a reconstructed 15th-century wooden Printing Press at Prelo Prints, Maribo, Denmark, in October 2020. The woodcut used for the cover was hand cut on a cherrywood block. The cover of the colored version is painted with pigments used in the 15th century, except for modern substitutes when the original color is toxic (vermillion, for example), and the text is rubricated in red.
The edition is set in Nürnberger Schwabacher and printed on 100% rag Hahnemühle Ingres laid paper, in an edition of 50 copies, 13 of which were hand colored and rubricated.
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letterpress printing |
Text composed in Nürnberger Schwabacher. Woodcut portrait of Vlad Tepes for the cover and decorative initial border on the title page.
