ANONYMOUS

The subjects covered by the Bavarian Provincial Ordinance include capital crimes, civil law, trade, Jews, gypsies, the Church, musicians, public health, beer and wine. The laws give an interesting insight into sixteenth century thinking on many topics. For instance the so called "Reinheitsgebot"or code of purity for Bavarian beers and the laws regarding fishing. Fish was an important staple food at that time. The book functioned as a fisheries manual to ensure that the fishing was properly regulated. The species illustrated are crayfish, chub, salmon, grayling, trout, roach, barbel, pike, asp, carp and bream, originating from Bavarian lakes, the Danube and its tributaries. To help in the enforcement of these laws the illustrations were used to assist in the identification of the various fish species. The drawings were also employed in conjunction with a measuring rod, to ensure that undersize fish were not taken. Nissen, 1969, in his work on zoological book illustrations has ranked the Bairische Landts Ordnung as number three in his chronological list of oldest books with fish illustrations. Provenance: Bibliotheca Capucinorum Burghusil. Nissen, 1969, ZBI 4570.