Der Todendantz

Front page of the "1530" edition

Front page of the 1583 edition. The book is cut so closely that parts of the letters are missing. The artist has forgotten to add colour to the monk's right arm.

The oldest printed version of the text from the dance of death in Basel is found in the book »Der Todendantz, Welchen alle Menschen, sy seyen hohes oder nyders stands, Jung oder Alt, von Gott jnen auffgesetzter zeyt, dantzen müssen. Allen Menschen zu einem Schawspiegel in den Druck verfertiget. M.D.XXX.«

According to the front page, Der Todendantz was printed in the year 1530 (M.D.XXX.). If this was true, it would mean that we had a witness from before Hans Kluber's extensive changes to the mural. However, a thorough examination(1) of watermarks, typography and the other texts in the volume shows that the book is considerably younger, and a better estimate would be 1570 or even 1580 (MD[L]XXX). Regardless of which of these years is the right one, the book is still the oldest printed version of the dance of death text, since Frölich didn't publish »Lobspruch An […] Basel« before 1581.

Der Todendantz only contains the proper dance of death, so there is no introduction with Isaiah, preacher and ossuary and no epilogue with Adam & Eve in Paradise. Instead the book starts with a two-page poem about The Original Sin and ends with a few pages of prayers and edifying musings.

Some of the dancers are missing: Canon, musician and hawker, while the heathen and his wife are conflated into "the heathens". On the other hand the book includes both the child and the Turk.

The book was republished in 1583 with the title »Der Todtendantz Welchen alle Menschen, sie seien hohes oder nider standts, Jung oder Alt, von Gott ihnen auffgesetzte zeit dantzen müssen. Anno M.D.LXXXIII.«. The canon, musician, hawker and heathen are still missing in this edition.

Der Todendantz contains countless variations when compared to the other written sources. The strongest deviation is for the Pope. In all other versions, the Pope is ridiculed for his sale of indulgences, his double cross and his triple crown, but not so in Der Todendantz. Here is Merian's text for a comparison:

Here are some more examples. Merian to the left and Der Todendantz to the right:

There are many variations like these. Sometimes they are interesting, like when the merchant says that Death has despised his goods, »hat mein Haab veracht«, instead of having refused his gift, »mein Gab verschmacht«. Other variations are simple errors, like when the fool says »meinen Knechten« instead of »seinen Knechten«. The problem is that all these deviations are not backed up, neither by any of the other written sources, nor by the parallel texts in Kleinbasel, nor by the High German dances of death like the one in Heidelberg's block book. The changes are thus the author's own invention, which reduces the value of the book as a historical witness.

There is one case, however, where Der Todendantz seems to be right:

According to Merian and Frölich (and thus also Gross, Hess, Chovin, Beck, Felix Schneider and Mechel) Death promises the young man that he shall be (re)united with his paramour in the realm of death. In Der Todendantz Death says the exact opposite, i.e. that he will not meet her, and in this Der Todendantz is backed up by our oldest manuscript, Iselin,(2) and by the coloured gouaches from 1600.

Resources

• Der Todendantz (the "1530"-edition) is available in high quality scans from VD16: Der Todendantz
• Der Todtendantz (the 1583-edition) is described by Patrick Layet in the book Ihr müsst alle nach meiner Pfeife tanzen, pp. 57-60 under the headline "Basler Totentanz 1583".
• Both editions are described by Mischa von Perger and Uli Wunderlich in Totentanz Aktuell, issue 126, October 2009, pp. 6-9 under the headline "Die ältesten Textzeugen des Großbasler Totentanzes".

Further information

• Der Todendantz - the text
• Der Todendantz - a comparison

Footnotes: (1) (2)

Dances of death Basel Der Todendantz