As an art history major I was particularly interested in the Nuremberg Chronicle illustrations. I have studied Albrecht Durer, a famous german wood block printer, in the past, and it was great to actually see these works of his predecessors up close. It was interesting to hear that the book contained controversy revolving around the inclusion of Pope Joan. In fact, in the edition we were shown someone went through the trouble of defacing this image and writing in a latin phrase to debunk this version of history. I wonder if there were any written responses to this book. It is also interesting that so much work went into the creation of a book, over 1509 wood carvings, that was not fully approved by the church.

Additionally, I found myself very interested in the books themselves as artifacts. Each book had a story attached. One could learn a lot from learning about previous owners, the materials used in the creation, marks left behind, the publishing house, and even which pages were most read. I loved all of the history associated with the books we looked at. The little quirks such as the Pope Joan story or the inker who stopped halfway through the book really animated the discussion for me.