The Liber selectarum cantionum (RISM A/I S 2804, RISM B/I 15204, VD16 S 5851, vdm 18) is a collection of motets which was printed in Augsburg in the workshop of Sigmund Grimm and Markus Wirsung in 1520. Its full title is Liber selectarum cantionum quas vulgo mutetas appellant sex quinque et quatuor vocum which means translated into English: "Book of selected songs, commonly called motets, for six, five, and four voices". The print is dedicated to the cardinal and prince-archbishop of Salzburg Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg. The epilogue was penned by the humanist Konrad Peutinger. Ludwig Senfl selected the compositions, prepared them for printing, and possibly also assisted as a proofreader.
Introduction
The Liber selectarum cantionum is the first motet anthology printed north of the Alps. It is subject of research by musicology, print studies, and art history mainly due to three extraordinary features:
The impressive dimensions of 44.5 cm × 28.5 cm (c. 17.5″ × 11″) are an extreme exception for a print of mensural music in the 16th century. The types used for the notes are the biggest every produced for mensural music and seemingly were never used again. Some of the copies contain a full-page woodcut of a coat of arms employing seven colors including gold which is deemed one of the most elaborate of the entire 16th century.
These qualities were so innovative that they elevated the capabilities of the printing technology to a new level.
There are 20 extant copies of the Liber selectarum cantionum which is an exceedingly high number for a music print of this century. Additionally, there exists a fragment in the British Museum in London which consists of a single sheet of paper displaying the colored coat of arms on one page and the first half of the dedicatory letter on the other. It was bound into a print of Wiguleus Hund's Metropolis Salisburgensis that had been produced in Ingolstadt in the year 1582.
Social background
Several individuals were connected to the Liber selectarum cantionum and also among these people themselves connections have been established both directly and indirectly.
Since at least 1507 Grimm had been working in Augsburg as a physician and a pharmacist. In the year 1513 he married Magdalena Welser. This marriage had two important consequences. On the one hand, he advanced to the upper class since he gained access to the Herrenstube ("chamber of Lords") of Augsburg, the closed circle of the city's elite. On the other hand, a significant link arose because Magdalena Welser was a second cousin to Margarete Welser, the wife of Konrad Peutinger. Therefore, Grimm and Peutinger were distantly related. Peutinger was one of the most reputable and influential figures of renaissance-humanism in Upper Germany. He participated in the city politics of Augsburg and supported emperor Maximilian I as a Kaiserlicher Rat ("imperial council"). He aided the family business of the Welsers by advising them in legal matters. He was a keen proponent of book printing which he especially fostered in Augsburg. By means of his advocacy several print projects of the Holy Roman Emperor were undertaken there.
A crucial hub for the forging of new contacts was the Sodalitas litteraria Augustana which was founded in 1500 by Peutinger. This Augsburg-based society aimed at bringing together fellow humanists, exchanging ideas, and putting these into practice. One of its members was Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg to whom the Liber selectarum cantionum was dedicated. A number of printers from Augsburg also belonged to the association. Among those were Grimm and Wirsung. It was probably due to both the family relationship as well as the Sodalitas which connected Peutinger to both of the printers that led him to write the epilogue for the music book.
Wirsung had been working as a pharmacist in Augsburg (similarly to Grimm) since 1496 but the principal source of his considerable income came from his main occupation as a long-distance merchant. Since at least 1502 he also engaged in bookselling. In 1501 Wirsung married a second time. Like in his first marriage the bride, Agathe Sulzer, came from an affluent merchant family. As a result, Wirsung, too, was granted access to the Augsburg Herrenstube and he officially joined the local upper class. One of the children born from this marriage was Christoph Wirsung.