15th Century

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili(/hiːpˌnɛəroʊtəˈmɑːkiːə pəˈliːfəˌliː/; from Greek hýpnos, 'sleep', éros, 'love', and máchē, 'fight'), called in English Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream or The Dream of Poliphilus, is a romance said to be by Francesco Colonna and a famous example of early printing. First published in Venice in 1499, in an elegant page layout, with refined woodcut illustrations in an Early Renaissance style, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili presents a mysterious arcane allegory in which Poliphilo pursues his love Polia through a dreamlike landscape, and is, seemingly, at last reconciled with her by the Fountain of Venus.

The Buik of Alexander is a short title for the two known Scots versions of the Alexander romance stories — a genre which was common in Medieval European literature, particularly France from the 12th century onwards, and the British Isles in the 14th and 15th centuries. A principal source text for these was the Old French text, Li romans d'Alixandre, attributed to Alexandre de Bernay, although writers tended to adapt material freely from different sources. Many different European nations had poets who produced versions of the romance. The dating is unsure, but the earlier of the two Scottish versions was anonymous (dated 1438?), and the second, in a version dated 1499?, is by Gilbert Hay.

La Celestina (as it is usually called after the leading character, though actually the Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea or in English the Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea), is a work entirely in dialogue published in 1499. It is attributed to Fernando de Rojas, a descendant of converted Jews, who practiced law and, later in life, served as an alderman of Talavera de la Reina, an important commercial center near Toledo.

Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalita (Summary of arithmetic, geometry, proportions and proportionality) is a book on mathematics written by Luca Pacioli and first published in 1494. It contains a comprehensive summary of Renaissance mathematics, including practical arithmetic, basic algebra, basic geometry and accounting, written in Italian for use as a textbook.

Ship of Fools (Modern German: Das Narrenschiff, Latin: Stultifera Navis, original medieval German title: Daß Narrenschyff ad Narragoniam) is a satyrical allegory in German verse published in 1494 in Basel, Switzerland, by the humanist and theologian Sebastian Brant. It is the most famous treatment of the ship of fools trope and circulated in numerous translations.

The Nuremberg Chronicle is an illustrated biblical paraphrase and world history that follows the story of human history related in the Bible; it includes the histories of a number of important Western cities. Written in Latin by Hartmann Schedel, with a version in German, translation by Georg Alt, it appeared in 1493. It is one of the best-documented early printed books—an incunabulum —and one of the first to successfully integrate illustrations and text.

Fiol's Octoechos is an incunabulum octoechos, the first printed book in the Cyrillic script. It was printed by Schweipolt Fiol, a German native of Franconia, in 1491 in Cracow.

Fasciculus Medicinae is a "bundle" of six independent and quite different medieval medical treatises. The collection, which existed only in two manuscripts (handwritten copies), was first printed in 1491 in Latin and came out in numerous editions over the next 25 years. Johannes de Ketham, the German physician routinely associated with the Fasciculus, was neither the author nor even the original compiler but merely an owner of one of the manuscripts. The topics of the treatises cover a wide spectrum of medieval European medical knowledge and technique, including uroscopy, astrology, bloodletting, the treatment of wounds, plague, anatomical dissection, and women’s health. The book is remarkable as the first illustrated medical work to appear in print; notable illustrations include: a urine chart, a diagram of the veins for phlebotomy, a pregnant woman, Wound Man, Disease Man and Zodiac Man. In 1495, it appeared in Italian under the title Fasiculo de Medicina.

Tirant lo Blanch (Valencian pronunciation: , modern orthography: Tirant lo Blanc) is a romance written by the Valencian knight Joanot Martorell, finished posthumously by his friend Martí Joan de Galba and published in the city of Valencia in 1490. The title means "Tirant the White" and is the name of the main character in the romance. It is one of the best known medieval works of literature in Valencian and played an important role in the evolution of the Western novel through its influence on the author Miguel de Cervantes.

The Prague Bible printed in 1488 was the first complete version of the Bible printed in the Czech language and in a Slavic language at the same time. The Bible was printed in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic. The text of the Bible represents the fourth version of the Czech Bible translation from Latin (the first version was made before 1360). The Bible consists of more than 610 pages. It was published at expenses of four rich Prague citizens. Today there are preserved around 90 copies of the Prague Bible.

Missale Aboense was the first book printed for Finland. As its name suggests, it was a prayer book used for mass. It follows the tradition of the Dominican liturgy, which around the year 1330 was adopted as the official liturgy of the see of Turku. This poor bishopric could not afford to have its own missal printed, but its Dominican tradition came to the rescue.

Friar Rush (Broder Rusche, Bruder Rausch, Broder Ruus) is the title of a medieval Low German legend, surviving in a 1488 edition in verse form. During the 16th and 17th centuries, numerous High German, Scandinavian (Danish and Swedish), Dutch and English translations and adaptations in Volksbuch or chap book form were printed. The first High German edition dates to 1515, printed in Strassburg. The story along with those of Till Eulenspiegel, Faust and Marcolf was among the most successful popular literature in 16th century Germany. The various adaptations vary in their style and focus, some intending to set a moral example or criticize excesses in monastic life, others simply intending to amuse the reader.

The Malleus Maleficarum (commonly rendered into English as "Hammer of Witches"; Der Hexenhammer in German) is a treatise on the prosecution of witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, a German Catholic clergyman. The book was first published in Speyer, Germany, in 1487. Jacob Sprenger is also often attributed as an author, but some scholars now believe that he became associated with the Malleus Maleficarum largely as a result of Kramer's wish to lend his book as much official authority as possible. Both purported writers of the work were Dominican clergy, and the work came about as "the result of a peculiarly Dominican encounter between learned and folk traditions, an encounter determined in part by the demands of inquisitorial office, and in part by the requirements of effective preaching and pastoral care." In 1490, three years after its publication, the Catholic Church condemned the Malleus Maleficarum, although it was later used by royal courts during the Renaissance, and contributed to the increasingly brutal prosecution of witchcraft during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Orlando Innamorato (Orlando in Love) is an epic poem written by the Italian Renaissance author Matteo Maria Boiardo. The poem is a romance concerning the heroic knight Orlando (Roland). It was published between 1483 (first two books) and 1495 (third book published separately, first complete edition).

The Oration on the Dignity of Man (De hominis dignitate) is a famous public discourse pronounced in 1486 by Pico della Mirandola, an Italian scholar and philosopher of the Renaissance. It has been called the "Manifesto of the Renaissance".

The Book of Saint Albans (or Boke of Seynt Albans) is the common title of a 1486 book, a compilation of matters relating to the interests of the time of a gentleman. It was the last of eight books printed by the St Albans Press in England. It is also known by titles that are more accurate, such as "The Book of Hawking, Hunting, and Blasing of Arms". The printer is sometimes called the Schoolmaster Printer. This edition credits the book, or at least the part on hunting, to Juliana Berners as there is an attribution at the end of the 1486 edition reading: "Explicit Dam Julyans Barnes in her boke of huntyng."

Le Morte d'Arthur (originally spelled Le Morte Darthur, Middle French for "the death of Arthur") is a reworking of traditional tales by Sir Thomas Malory about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table. Malory interprets existing French and English stories about these figures and adds original material (e.g., the Gareth story).

Sefer ha-Ikkarim ("Book of Principles") is a fifteenth-century work by rabbi Joseph Albo, a student of Hasdai Crescas. It is an eclectic, popular work, whose central task is the exposition of the principles of Judaism.

De re aedificatoria (English: On the Art of Building) is a classic architectural treatise written by Leon Battista Alberti between 1443 and 1452. Although largely dependent on Vitruvius' De architectura, it was the first theoretical book on the subject written in the Italian Renaissance and in 1485 became the first printed book on architecture. It was followed in 1486 with the first printed edition of Vitruvius.

Zürcher Schilling (or Grosse Burgunderchronik, Great Burgundy Chronicle) is the latest chronicle of Diebold Schilling the Elder of Bern (1484), treating the Burgundian Wars. It is kept in the central library in Zürich.

The Mivchar Hepeninim is an ethical work, dated 1484, written by Rabbi Shlomo ben Yehudah in Spain.

The Book of the Knight of the Tower (full French title: Livre pour l'enseignement de ses filles du Chevalier de La Tour Landry) is a book commenced by Geoffroy IV de la Tour Landry in 1371, and which he continued writing at least until 1372. It was translated into English (as The Book of the Knight of the Tower) by William Caxton and completed, according to his colophon, on 1 June 1483, during the reign of Edward V. It was further translated into German as Der Ritter vom Turn in 1493. The Livre pour l'enseignement de ses filles served as a tutorial for De la Tour Landry's daughters on proper behavior when visiting the royal court, which, the knight warns, is filled with smooth-talking courtiers who could potentially disgrace them and embarrass the family. The author was a widower, and concerned for his daughters' welfare. He takes a strong moral stance against the behavior of his peers and warns his daughters about the dangers of vanity.

Missale Romanum Glagolitice (Croatian: Misal po zakonu rimskoga dvora) is a Croatian language missal and incunabula printed in 1483. It is written in Glagolitic script and is the first printed Croatian book. It is the first missal in Europe not published in Latin script. Its editio princeps, unique in the achieved typographic artistry, was published only 28 years after the Gutenberg bible's 42-lines, bears witness of high cultural attainment and maturity of Croatian Glagolites and Croatian mediaeval literature.

Dialogus creaturarum (more properly Dialogus creaturarum optime moralizatus or Dyalogus creaturarum moralizatus), is a collection of 122 Latin-language fables and, as the title implies, dialogues of creatures. It was the first book ever printed in Sweden (1483).

The Catholicon Anglicum was an English-to-Latin bilingual dictionary compiled in the later 15th century.

Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum, Latin: The Salernitan Rule of Health (commonly known as Flos medicinae or Lilium medicinae - The Flower of Medicine, The Lily of Medicine) is a medieval didactic poem in hexameter verse. It is allegedly a work of the Schola Medica Salernitana (from which its other name Flos medicinae scholae salerni is derived).

The Distaff Gospels (Les Evangiles des Quenouilles) is an Old French fifteenth-century collection of popular beliefs held by late medieval women, first published in 1480. The narrative takes place within the context of a gathering of women who meet with their spindles and distaffs to spin. They discuss folk wisdom related to their domestic lives, including controlling errant husbands, predicting the gender of future offspring and curing common ailments.

The Epistles of Wisdom or Rasa'il al-Hikma (Arabic: رسـائـل الـحـكـمـة‎) is a corpus of sacred texts and pastoral letters by teachers of the Druze Faith, which has currently close to a million faithful, mainly in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan.

The Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (Complete Annals of Đại Việt) is the official historical text of the Lê Dynasty, that was originally compiled by the royal historian Ngô Sĩ Liên under the order of the Emperor Lê Thánh Tông and was finished in 1479. The 15-volume book covered the period from Hồng Bàng Dynasty to the coronation of Lê Thái Tổ, the first emperor of the Lê Dynasty in 1428. In compiling his work, Ngô Sĩ Liên based on two principal historical sources which were Đại Việt sử ký by Lê Văn Hưu and Đại Việt sử ký tục biên by Phan Phu Tiên. After its publication, Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư was continually supplemented by other historians of the Lê Dynasty such as Vũ Quỳnh, Phạm Công Trứ and Lê Hi. Today the most popular version of Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư is the "Nội các quan bản" edition which was completed in 1697 with the additional information up to 1656 during the reign of the Emperor Lê Thần Tông and the Lord Trịnh Tráng. Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư is considered the most important and comprehensive historical book about the history of Vietnam from its beginning to the period of the Lê Dynasty.

The Treviso Arithmetic, or Arte dell'Abbaco, is an anonymous textbook in commercial arithmetic written in vernacular Venetian and published in Treviso, Italy in 1478.

Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye or Recueil des Histoires de Troye, a translation of a French courtly romance written by Raoul Lefevre, chaplain to Philip III, Duke of Burgundy, was the first book printed in the English language.

Les Visions du chevalier Tondal is an illuminated manuscript from 1475, now at the Getty Museum, of a French version of the "Visio Tnugdali", of which it is the only fully illuminated manuscript to survive. It has 20 miniatures by Simon Marmion and elaborate borders with "CM" for the initials of Margaret of York, duchess of Burgundy and her husband Charles the Bold. The text was scribed by David Aubert in Ghent, whilst the miniatures were done in Valenciennes, where Marmion was based. Only the pages with the 15 two column miniatures and five single column miniatures have borders, but as there are only 45 folios, the illumination is very full. The manuscript is fully available online.

The Formicarius, written 1435-1437 by Johannes Nider during the Council of Basel and first printed in 1475, is the second book ever printed to discuss witchcraft. Nider dealt specifically with witchcraft in the fifth section of the book. Unlike his successors, he did not emphasize the idea of the Witches' Sabbath and was skeptical of the claim that witches could fly by night. The Formicarius is an important work for the study of the origins of the witch trials in Early Modern Europe, as it sheds light on their earliest phase during the first half of the 15th century.

The Summa grammaticalis quae vocatur Catholicon, or Catholicon (from the Greek Καθολικόν, universal), is a 13th-century Latin dictionary which found wide use throughout Christendom. Some of the entries contain encyclopedic information, and a Latin grammar is also included. The work was created by John Balbi (Johannes Januensis de Balbis), of Genoa, a Dominican, who finished it on March 7, 1286. The work served in the late Middle Ages to interpret the Bible "correctly". The educated citizen could gather from it the substantial knowledge of his time. From 1286 to the late 15th century it was available mainly in manuscripts held by monastic libraries. The Catholicon was one of the first books to be printed, using the new printing technology of Johannes Gutenberg in 1460.

Sanga Yorok (hangul:산가요록, hanja:山家要錄) is a Korean cook book written in hanja in about 1459 by the royal family doctor, Jeon soon. The work also incorporates descriptions of farming. The terminology means "records for farming villages".

The Mainz Psalter was the second major book printed with movable type in the West; the first was the Gutenberg Bible. It is a psalter commissioned by the Mainz archbishop in 1457. The Psalter introduced several innovations: it was the first book to feature a printed date of publication, a printed colophon, two sizes of type, printed decorative initials, and the first to be printed in three colours. The colophon also contains the first example of a printer's mark. It was the first important publication issued by Johann Fust and Peter Schoeffer following their split from Johannes Gutenberg.

Cod. 44 A 8 also known as MS 1449, Bibliotheca dell'Academica Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana, is a Fechtbuch compiled by Peter von Danzig in 1452. Danzig was a 15th-century German fencing master. He was counted among the 16 members of the "society of Johannes Liechtenauer".

The Chronicon Holtzatiae auctore presbytero Bremensi is a Latin universal chronicle from the year 1448, but concentrating on the County of Holstein (the terra Holsacie) and written by an anonymous presbyter of Bremen originally from Holstein. It has received three modern editions, the first by the famous Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1698. Other than that it has been rather neglected by medievalists; its Latin is poor and its author imaginative.

Hunminjeongeum (lit. The Correct/Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People) is a document describing an entirely new and native script for the Korean language. The script was initially named after the publication, but later came to be known as hangul. It was created so that the common people illiterate in hanja could accurately and easily read and write the Korean language. It was announced in Volume 102 of the Annals of King Sejong, and its formal supposed publication date, October 9, 1446, is now Hangul Day in South Korea. The Annals place its invention to the 25th year of Sejong's reign, corresponding to 1443-1444.

Nam Ông mộng lục (traditional Chinese: 南翁夢錄, literally Dream Memoir of Nam Ông), or Nanweng Menglu in Chinese, is a memoir written in Classical Chinese (Han tu) by the Vietnamese scholar Hồ Nguyên Trừng, art-name Nam Ông (Nanweng), during his exile in Ming China in the early 15th century.

Zīj-i Sultānī (Persian: زیجِ سلطانی‎‎) is a Zij astronomical table and star catalogue that was published by Ulugh Beg in 1437. It was the joint product of the work of a group of Muslim astronomers working under the patronage of Ulugh Beg at Samarkand's Ulugh Beg Observatory. These astronomers included Jamshīd al-Kāshī and Ali Qushji, among others.

The Bernese Chronicle (German: Chronik der Stadt Bern) contains information about the early history of the city of Bern.

The Hours of Maria d'Harcourt is an illuminated book of hours produced in 1415 in the German-Dutch border area of Guelders. It follows the Roman liturgy, with 6 full-page miniatures and 86 smaller miniatures, with stylised borders. It is held partly by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and partly by the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.

The Master of Game is a medieval book on hunting written by Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, between 1406 and 1413, of which 27 manuscripts survive. It is considered to be the oldest English-language book on hunting. It was reprinted in 1904 with a translation into modern English, an essay on medieval hunting, and a foreword by then-American President and noted hunter Theodore Roosevelt.

Fiore Furlano de Cividale d'Austria, delli Liberi da Premariacco (Fiore dei Liberi, Fiore Furlano, Fiore de Cividale d'Austria; born ca. 1350; died after 1409) was a late 14th century knight, diplomat, and itinerant fencing master.

The Yongle Encyclopedia or Yongle Dadian (simplified Chinese: 永乐大典; traditional Chinese: 永樂大典; pinyin: Yǒnglè Dàdiǎn; Wade–Giles: Yung-lo Ta-tien; literally: "Great Canon of Yongle") was a Chinese leishu encyclopedia commissioned by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty in 1403 and completed by 1408. Its sheer scope and size made it the world's largest general encyclopedia, an achievement unsurpassed until the 21st century Wikipedia.

Sullam al-sama' also known as Resaleh-ye Kamaliyyeh (Arabic*: سُلَم السماء, Transliterated as Sǒllam os-Samā') meaning "The Ladder of the Sky" or "The Stairway of Heaven" is an astronomical treatise written by the Persian mathematician and astronomer Jamshid Kashani in 1407 about the determination of distance and size of the heavenly bodies such as the Earth, the Moon and the Sun.

The Treasure of the City of Ladies (Le trésor de la cité des dames, also known The Book of the Three Virtues) is a manual of education by medieval Italian-French author Christine de Pisan. Finished, like her previous Book of the City of Ladies, by the year 1405, and dedicated to Margaret of Burgundy at a time when Christine was writing works for Margaret's father Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy, the book aims to educate women of all estates with advice on various topics. Her Book and Treasure are two of her best-known works, mainly due to the study of these books in modern academia.

The Book of the City of Ladies or Le Livre de la Cité des Dames (finished by 1405), is perhaps Christine de Pizan's most famous literary work, and it is her second work of lengthy prose. Pizan uses the vernacular French language to compose the book, but she often uses Latin-style syntax and conventions within her French prose. The book serves as her formal response to Jean de Meun's popular Roman de la Rose. Christine combats Meun's statements about women by creating an allegorical city of ladies. She defends women by collecting a wide array of famous females throughout history. These women are "housed" in the City of Ladies, which is actually Christine's book. As Christine builds her city, she uses each famous woman as a building block for not only the walls and houses of the city, but also as building blocks for her thesis. Each woman added to the city adds to Christine's argument towards women as valued participants in society. She also advocates in favor of education for women.