Lehnart, Ulrich Kleidung & Waffen der Dürerzeit, Band 2, 1480-1530

This second volume concludes Ulrich Lehnart's book on the "Dress and Weapons of the Dürer Period". This marks the final conclusion of his series of books on the costume studies of the Middle Ages. This volume, which deals mainly with the civilian clothing of the period between 1480 and 1530, makes it clear that we are basically dealing with two phases in the development of costume during this period. The first (up to c. 1505) is still very much influenced by late Gothic fashion, and it is only the second (from c. 1505) that brings the stylistic change to the fashion of the early German Renaissance.

The decision to publish the book in two volumes has turned out to be the right one; for once again the abundance of individual costume phenomena and contemporary pictorial material was so great that the second volume has also become more extensive than originally intended. As already announced in the first volume, the second mainly deals with the clothing of nobles, burghers and peasants, whereby the bourgeoisie has moved to the first place in comparison to the other books in the series. For the first time, a volume has its own tailoring appendix, which not only contains a number of basic cuts, but also some current theories and practical advice on how to create two important types of garments. This should probably be welcome to all those who wish to acquire clothing of the period that is as authentic as possible. However, the volume also contains a section on the history of weapons. After the protective armament of the professional warriors has already been extensively presented in the first volume, the second volume is now devoted to the armament of the bourgeois and peasant formations and the weapons of the crossbowmen and riflemen, which are presented in numerous illustrations of originals and replicas.