Sumberg, Samuel L.: The Nuremberg Schembart carnival (New York: Columbia University Press, 1941)

24

ORIGIN OF THE SCHEMBARTLAUF

Bernhaupt Schwenter, though he may have worked under his
supervision.
The date of our MS must be based on the MS itself: binding,
paper, calligraphy, and illustration seem to belong to the latter
half of the Sixteenth Century.4 The two water-marks of the MS



are especially helpful here. The first occurs only on the flyleaves;
the mark represents a double tower with the letters "H M" below
(Fig. A). The design of a castle was popular as a water-mark in
southern Germany from 1550 to 1600, and was no doubt pat-
terned after the arms of the cities.5 Although a few leaves of our
MS have no water-mark, or it is so hidden it cannot be seen, the
majority show an "R" in a circle (Fig. B). A mark very similar
to Fig. B, an encircled "R" of the same size and design is listed
in Briquet6 as "No. 8975: Prague 1573. Statthaltereiarch: Copial-
buch, n° 89."7 While the paper Briquet refers to was probably
made earlier than the year 1573, it may also have been used at
any subsequent time and does not necessarily prove a sixteenth-
century origin for our MS. However, the examination of details
4 Dr. Fischer catalogued the MS as "16. Jh., Mitte"; Bruggemann (Mitt.), p. 13,
lists it as "Nach 1539."
5 Cf. Briquet, Nos. 15,914-15,962.
'Briquet, III, 479.
7 Briquet, III, 476, adds: "La lettre R inscrite dans un cercle est plutot rare . ..
L'origine des 8974 et 8975 est incertaine."