Hans Wurm, Das Ringerbuch

Printed in Landshut around 1500 by Hans Wurm, Das Ringerbuch—also known as Das
Landshuter Ringerbuch—is among the earliest surviving printed manuals devoted to the
German tradition of wrestling. Though modest in size, it occupies a distinctive place in the
history of the European book, where practical knowledge, craftsmanship and the emerging
art of print converge with remarkable clarity.
The volume comprises twenty-three finely cut woodcuts depicting holds, throws, counters
and methods of defence. Accompanied by concise explanatory texts, the illustrations reveal
not only the techniques of combat but also the visual discipline of Renaissance woodcut
printing. Their directness, balance and economy transform a practical manual into a work of
lasting artistic and cultural significance.
Today, Das Ringerbuch is valued not merely as an early treatise on martial skill, but as a rare
witness to the intellectual and material culture of Renaissance Germany. It reflects an age in
which books increasingly served to preserve specialised knowledge while demonstrating the
possibilities of the newly established printing press. Its woodcuts remain among the finest
visual records of the European martial tradition and of early illustrated book production.
Kurtiak & Ley's facsimile edition faithfully preserves the spirit and character of this
remarkable work. Issued in a strictly limited edition of only twenty-eight individually numbered
copies, it presents the original German text selected and prepared by Tymoteusz Ley. Printed
on handmade and fine art papers and bound by hand in leather in the Kurtiak & Ley atelier,
each volume is conceived not simply as a reproduction of a rare Renaissance book, but as a
continuation of the European tradition of fine bookmaking and a contribution to the
preservation of Europe's printed cultural heritage for future generations.