Magdalena and Balthasar : An Intimate Portrait of Life in 16th Century Europe Revealed in the Letters of a Nuremberg Husband and Wife [Paperback]

Steven Ozment (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (September 10, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300043783
• ISBN-13: 978-0300043785
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Education & Reference > Publishing & Books > Bibliographies & Indexes > History

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful glimpse, March 8, 2002

By 

T. Bittick (TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Magdalena and Balthasar : An Intimate Portrait of Life in 16th Century Europe Revealed in the Letters of a Nuremberg Husband and Wife (Paperback)

Despite reviewer DP Mellon's prejudicial, intolerant and bias rant on Dr. Ozment's book, I found it to be a useful glimpse into the daily life of a 16th century couple. I am writing a historical novel set during these times, and such personalized, intimate and first hand translated source material is critical to the accuracy of my novel.

Ozment's book gives us a look at how people really lived, what they said, what they thought, and what they wore, and therefore for this reason the book is indeed historically significant. You can interprete data and statistical patterns up the yahoo, but when you want to find out what people really did in a certain time, read their letters. This book is a "slice of life," not intended to represent the interests, trends or political ideals of the larger generation to which it belongs, but to focus on a particular 16th century couple at a particular time in life.

Just as any painter knows, you must limit your subject in a "portrait" to the most important person or persons you are trying to represent, and capture their true nature by selecting those details to focus on that are most representative of the subject. I believe that Dr. Ozment has done a fine job of doing just that. I will agree with Mellon that I would have liked to have seen more actual excerpts of the letters, only because I found them fascinating.

As an aside, I don't believe that the couple portrayed here are any less ordinary to their times than the middle-class of today is to theirs, as Mellon claims in his review. This couple is middle-class, politically connected, and want for little, so that means they are not ordinary? To whom? They also lost their only child, fought with their relatives, hated their jobs, worried about money, and got sick on a regular basis while trying to sift quack cures from the real thing. Sounds pretty ordinary to me. They were members of a growing merchant class at this time, and they lived how they lived. Trying to make them stand for something other than what they are, as Mellon seems to want Ozment to do, would be an exercise in futility.

That Dr. Ozment chose this particular couple to write a book about seems less to do with their "conformity to modern white middle class notions of what the marriage relationship should be" than to the fact that they wrote letters to one another that survived intact into the 20th century, which could therefore be translated and commented upon. And I enjoyed the material, though I am neither white, nor experimenting with marriage (I think after 9 years it ceases to be an experiment), nor childless and in pursuit of the almighty dollar (though Mellon seems to assume these are the only types of people who would buy into Ozment's premise of the role of the family in 16th century Germany).

In conclusion, if you want to know how a 16th century merchant couple in Germany lived, this is a good place to start.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, but not enough letters!, January 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Magdalena and Balthasar : An Intimate Portrait of Life in 16th Century Europe Revealed in the Letters of a Nuremberg Husband and Wife (Paperback)

Editor Ozment presents letters between a Nuremberg merchant and his wife. These letters are very interesting in that they tell about everyday life in the 16th century. Professor Ozment's commentary on the letters is helpful; however, the book would have been better served if a greater number of the letters had been included. Although some 87 letters between Magdalena and Balthazar are exant, the editor includes fewer than 20 in their entirety. Also, the entire volume is fewer than 200 pages so the book could have been longer. These minor objections aside, Magdalena and Balthazar is a fascinating read!

4.0 out of 5 stars , Enjoyed very much but what is a "crackling" ?, January 19, 2012

By 

Kim (Lodi, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magdalena and Balthasar : An Intimate Portrait of Life in 16th Century Europe Revealed in the Letters of a Nuremberg Husband and Wife (Paperback)

I enjoyed the letters and most of the commentary. The letters are wonderful and as a communications tool between separated spouses, they are both positive and chatty.

As a general reader, I am ignorant of 90% of the details of a 16th century life and could have used more sociological detail. If you are reading this for a class, your professor surely will enlighten you.

Of Balthasar's bathing and "taking the waters" to heal his arthritis and digestive complaints: I do know that the baths have been used since before the Romans to promote healing and well-being. They continue to be patronized by Germans and non-Germans alike.

Additionally, Hildegarde of Bingen, a very popular author of the middle ages, who was considered a scientist of her time, promoted bathing for healing. She wrote a herbal medicine textbook as well as her famous mystical books.

I also found it humorous that the editor found Magdalene's request for food treats and fancy textiles in every letter excessive. There were no supermarkets with non-seasonal fruits or treats around in the 16th century. And we don't have plague haunting us either.

Excellent book.