Book of Trades – Ständebuch illustrations (Jost Amman, 1568)

The Book of Trades (Ständebuch) is a 1568 German woodcut series created by Jost Amman. It illustrates nearly one hundred different Renaissance-era trades and crafts, offering a rare visual record of 16th-century occupational practices.

The woodcuts by Jost Amman were accompanied by descriptive verses written by the famous German poet Hans Sachs. This collaboration resulted in a detailed visual and poetic documentation of the working class in late 16th-century Europe.

The collection features a wide variety of everyday craftsmen, artisans, and merchants from the Renaissance period. It includes everyone from bakers and shoemakers to more specialized trades like instrument makers and armorers.

It provides historians with a detailed, primary visual source of how specific crafts were performed in 16th-century Europe. The precise depictions of tools, workspaces, and clothing make it a crucial document for understanding early modern labor.