Fine Books and Manuscripts Online

For benefit of mission projects of St Stephen's Episcopal Cathedral

For benefit of mission projects of St Stephen's Episcopal Cathedral BIBLE IN LATIN A leaf from the Gutenberg Bible. [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, 1455] Royal folio (15 3/8 x 11 3/8 in.; 391 x 289 mm), A single leaf, being volume 1, fo. 270 (quire 27, leaf 10), containing Judith 10–12. 2 columns, 42 lines; initial spaces. Handsomely rubricated in red and blue. Black morocco binding gilt-titled on upper cover (Stikeman), including A. Edward Newton's accompanying essay, A Nobel Fragment, 1921; binding worn, lower portion of backstrip missing. First edition of the Bible in Latin, and the first substantial European printed book, produced under the temporary partnership of Johann Gutenberg, inventor of European typography, and Johann Fust, a well-off Mainz lawyer. Production of the edition of more than 640 leaves presumably took several years and a team of workmen. The humanist Aeneas Sylvius, Latin secretary of Emperor Frederick III, saw sample sheets at the Imperiel diet in Frankfurt am Main, in late October or early November 1454, and again at Weiner Neustatt in March 1455, from where he wrote about the amazing production to his friend Cardinal Carvajal in Rome. Copies were printed in separate issues of paper and vellum, in a total edition of 180 copies, and were widely distributed. Forty-nine copies of varying completeness survive today, as well as a considerable number of leaves of binding waste, particularly of otherwise lost vellum copies. The present leaf comes from an imperfect copy purchased in 1832 from the Munich Royal Library by the English traveler Robert Curzon. It was sold at Sotheby's in November 1920, and acquired by New York book dealer Gabriel Wells, who broke it up and sold most of its single leaves, accompanied by an essay, A Noble Fragment, by the Philadelphia bibliophile A. Edward Newton, a few integral books being sold as such (Genesis at University of Illinois, Gospel of Matthew at Colgate University, and others). REFERENCES Goff B-526; GW 4201; BMC I 17 (IC.55); BSB-Ink B-408; Bod-inc B-237. Censuses: De Ricci Mayence 34.53=78; Schwenke 37; Needham P18; Folter 45 PROVENANCE Unidentified German convent or church — Court Library of Mannheim — Royal Library of Munich — Robert Curzon (1810–1870), 14th Baron Zouche, by descent to — Mary Cecil Curzon Frankland (1877–1965), 17th Baroness Zouche (from 1917), sold Sotheby's, 9 November 1920, lot 70 — [Frank Sabin, Gabriel Wells] — Scoles (armorial bookplate), by descent to — Jim Elliott, donated to — St. Stephen's Episcopal Cathedral, Harrisburg, Pa.

a leaf from the gutenberg bible. [mainz: johann gutenberg and johann fust, 1455]

Books, Manuscripts & Music

Bible, Latin Biblia Latina, a bifolium printed on vellum from the Gutenberg or 42-line Bible. [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg, c.1454-1455] 360 x 240 mm, Royal folio, joint bifolium (separated at one point now attached again) (I:25, 26 (3/5·6)) from volume I containing the text of Genesis 42:31 until 46:12, 42 lines, double column, type 140G, two 2-line initials in red, one in blue, chapter numbers and running title supplied in red, some capitals marked in red with a slanted stroke with serif; leaves browned overall, stain in upper right corner of first recto, a few small wormholes at right foot of first recto, some minor staining, creases where leaves were folded as paste downs, occasionally slight fading of text A REDISCOVERED BIFOLIUM FROM THE GUTENBERG BIBLE, THE FIRST PRINTED BIBLE IN EUROPE, FROM THE COLLECTION OF PAUL HIRSCH. This newly discovered bifolium from the Gutenberg Bible contains a substantial section of the book of Genesis (42:31 until 46:12). Not only the text but also the decoration of the lost fragment matches our fragment. The decoration of the St Louis and Dallas leaves is characterised by the purely red headlines, and slanted capital strokes with serifs, and a small dot after the chapter numerals, mirroring the decoration in our fragment. The so-called 42-line Bible, or Gutenberg Bible, was created by German printer and publisher Johannes Gutenberg (c.1400-1468) in his workshop in Mainz in 1454/55. Using Jerome’s ‘Vulgate’ translation, the text is laid out in two columns of 42 lines. With its elegant Gothic type that was designed to emulate manuscript, the Gutenberg Bible was a revolutionary masterpiece, uniting the art of fine printing with ingenious craftsmanship, immortalising the historic significance of the Bible. While around 158 to 180 copies were made on paper, only 12 more or less complete Bibles on vellum are extant, and most of these are held in public institutions (White, p.21, 2010). In light of this survival rate, every fragment is a precious piece of cultural history. The Gutenberg Bible was not only the first Bible, but the first book to be printed in Europe using movable type. While printing itself was not a new invention, Gutenberg is credited with having revolutionised the printing process through the introduction of individual ‘movable’ letters made of metal. Using individual letters that could be rearranged at a moment’s notice with minimum effort – instead of complete text blocks made from wood – radically hastened the production of printed materials and exponentially increased the amount of texts in circulation at the time. Gutenberg’s technical advancement of the printing press acted as a catalyst for the Reformation movement that led to a cultural shift of unforeseeable proportions, an event that was coined the ‘printing revolution’ by Elizabeth Eisenstein in 1983. Almost overnight, it became possible to duplicate and multiply human knowledge within a few hours, making it accessible to a wider readership. The production of this Bible signified a turning point in human history, whose legacy and impact scholars are still trying to understand today. SISTER LEAVES: 1. I:24 (3/4) = Genesis 41-42. Saint Louis, Missouri, Art Museum, 40:1922. 2. I:27 (3/7) = Genesis 46-48.Dallas, Texas, Southern Methodist University, Bridwell Library, Prothro B-51. 3. I:50 (5/10) = Leviticus 4-5. Coburg, Landesbibliothek, Inc. Ca 23:1; see E. Herold, “Die Coburger Gutenbergfunde und ihre Bedeutung für die Gutenberg-Forschung”, Gutenberg-Jahrbuch (1941), 52. 4. II:298 (30/4) = Acts 21-23. Karlsruhe, Landesarchiv, 65/11987; see Hermann Ehmer, “Ein neuentdecktes Pergamentfragment der 42-zeiligen Gutenbergbibel”, Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 123 (1975), 251-252, with two illustrations. PROVENANCE: 1. Printed in Mainz by Johann Gutenberg in his workshop between 1454 and 1455. 2. A sister leaf from Coburg, which was used on a copy of the 1572 edition of Brant’s Stultifera Navis from Basel, indicates that this copy of the Gutenberg Bible must have been disassembled at some point before 1572. 3. The fragment is likely to be identified with the lost leaf belonging to the ‘Durlach Group’, designated by Eric White (White 2010, p.24). In 1909, the celebrated Munich bookseller Jacques Rosenthal acquired four leaves (two single leaves and our bifolium) encompassing Genesis 41 to 48. The bifolium was likely acquired around 1920 by Paul Hirsch. One leaf was purchased by Paul Gottschalk, who sold it to the St Louis Art Museum (f.I:24) in 1922. The remaining leaf (f.I:27) passed to Jacques Rosenthal’s son after his death in 1937, Dr. Erwin Rosenthal, who sold the leaf to H. P. Kraus in 1953 (his catalogue, The Cradle of Printing: From Mainz and Bamberg to Westminster and St Albans. One Hundred Incunabula and Manuscripts Important for the Development of Early Printing, New York, [1954]). Kraus sold the leaf in 1954 to Harold J. Maker of Irvington, New Jersey. The next known owner, Samuel D. Steinberg, presented it to Sinai Temple in Los Angeles in 1961. In 1964, John Howell Books in San Francisco sold the leaf to Charles Prothro of Wichita Falls, Texas, as a Christmas gift for his wife Elizabeth Perkins Prothro; she presented it to Bridwell Library in 1996 where it is still held today. Our fragment was sold to: 4. The renowned bibliophile Paul Hirsch (1881–1951). Born into a German-Jewish industrial family, he soon developed a great appreciation for books and was a passionate and accomplished musician. He created the largest private library in Europe, and his collection of music, encompassing over 18,000 items, is now held at the British Library. Following the rise of National Socialism in Germany Hirsch fled Germany in 1936 to settle in Cambridge; 5. by descent to the current owner. See following lot and lots 147-149. LITERATURE: ISTC ib00526000; White, Eric Marshall (2010). "The Gutenberg Bibles that Survive as Binder's Waste". In Wagner, Bettina; Reed, Marcia (eds.). Early Printed Books as Material Objects: Proceedings of the Conference Organized by the Ifla Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Munich, 19–21 August 2009. De Gruyter, pp. 21–35; Goff, Frederick R. Incunabula in American libraries: a third census. Millwood (N.Y.), 1973. (Reproduced from the annotated copy of the original edition (New York, 1964) maintained by Goff). (Supplement. New York, 1972.) B526 FURTHER READING: Als die Lettern laufen lernten: Medienwandel im 15. Jahrhundert. Inkunabeln aus der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München. ed. by Bettina Wagner. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2009; Hooks, Adam G. “Breaking Gutenberg Apart.” http://www.adamghooks.net/2013/04/breaking-gutenberg-apart.html; Kapr, Albert. Johann Gutenberg: the Man and His Invention. Douglas Martin, trans. Aldershot, England: Scolar Press, 1996; Meuthen, Erich. “Ein neues frühes Quellenzeugnis (zu Oktober 1454?) für den ältesten Bibeldruck”, Gutenberg-Jahrbuch 57 (1982): 110; Needham, Paul (1999). "The Changing Shape of the Vulgate Bible in Fifteenth-Century Printing Shops". In Saenger, Paul; Van Kampen, Kimberly (eds.). The Bible as Book: the First Printed Editions. British Library. pp. 53–70; Needham, Paul (2010). "Copy Specifics in the Printing Shop". In Wagner, Bettina; Reed, Marcia (eds.). Early Printed Books as Material Objects: Proceedings of the Conference Organized by the Ifla Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Munich, 19–21 August 2009. De Gruyter Sur. pp. 9–20. Newton, A. Edward. A Noble Fragment: Being a Leaf of the Gutenberg Bible, 1450-1455; with a Bibliographical Essay. New York: Gabriel Wells, 1921; White, Eric Marshall. Editio Princeps: a History of the Gutenberg Bible. London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2017

View 1 of Lot 5: Bible, Latin | A bifolium from the Gutenberg Bible

bible, latin | a bifolium from the gutenberg bible

Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana. Part 2

(Bible in Latin) Bible, [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, 1455] Royal folio (390 x 285mm), single leaf from end of Numbers 21 to the beginning of Numbers 23. 42 lines, 2 columns, typed. Edges stained red, capital strokes in red; page headings and chapter titles in red and blue ink. Two Lombardic capitals, one of them in red ink and flourished. Stray marks in red ink from the composition of capital strokes and light matburn. Leaf from the first substantial European printed book, produced under the temporary partnership of Johann Gutenberg, inventor of European typography, and Johann Fust, a well-off Mainz lawyer. Production of the edition of more than 640 leaves presumably took several years and a team of workmen. The humanist Aeneas Sylvius, Latin secretary of Emperor Fredrick III, saw sample sheets of the Bible at the Imperial diet in Frankfurt am Main, in late October or early November 1454, and again at Wiener Neustatt in March 1455, from where he wrote about the amazing production to his friend Cardinal Carvajal in Rome. Copies were printed in separate issues of paper and vellum, in a total edition of 180 copies, and were widely distributed. REFERENCE: 500th Anniversary Pictorial Census n. 128; Formatting the Word of God 2.1; Goff B-526; GW 4201; BMC I 17 (IC.55); BSB-Ink B-408; Bod-inc B-237. Censuses: De Ricci Mayence 34.53=78; Schwenke 37; Needham P18; Folter 45

View 1 of Lot 1073: (Bible in Latin) | Leaf from the Gutenberg Bible 

(bible in latin) | leaf from the gutenberg bible

The Library of a European Gentleman - View Auction details, bid, buy and collect the various artworks at Sotheby's Art Auction House.

2 volumes, large folio (435 x 307mm.), copy number 9 of an edition of 895 copies, blind-stamped calf binding over wooden boards with 5 bosses on each cover

2 volumes, large folio (435 x 307mm.), copy number 9 of an edition of 895 copies, blind-stamped calf binding over wooden boards with 5 bosses on each cover together with a volume of commentary, edited by Wieland Schmidt and Friedrich Adolf Schmidt-Künsemüller, folio, original cream cloth, card slipcase; together 3 volumes

die zweiundvierzigzeilige bibel [facsimile]. munich: idion, 1977-1979

Music, Continental and Russian Books and Manuscripts

Royal folio (400 x 286mm.), 2 conjoint leaves only (volume II, quire 32/5-6, ff. 314-315, from the Book of Revelation), printed on paper, double column, 42 lines, textura type, 6 2-line initials supplied in red or blue with manuscript guide letters, red initial-strokes, red manuscript running-title ("Apocalypsis") and chapter numbers, manuscript foliation in brown ink at foot of versos ("cccxiiii" and "cccxv"), watermark of a bunch of grapes [Briquet 13040] on centre of second leaf, a few light marginal stains and tears, paper repair to head of central fold, central fold slightly torn at foot

[mainz: printer of the 42-line bible (johann gutenberg) and johannes fust, c. 1455]

Royal folio (397 x 287mm.), 2 leaves only (volume I, ff. 320-321, quire 32/10 and 33/1, from the Psalms), printed on paper, double column, 42 lines, textura type, three 3-line contemporary Mainz decorative initials by the Fust Master with leafy marginal extensions in pink, green, blue, grey and gold with fine detailing on the grounds of the initials, 1- and 2-line initials supplied in red or blue with manuscript guide letters, red manuscript titles and numbers for each psalm, red manuscript foliation in upper corner (cccxxi and cccxxii), watermark of a bull's head [Briquet 15096 or similar; see below] on centre of first leaf, a few light marginal stains and tears, small wormholes

The Bible Collection of Dr. Charles Caldwell Ryrie

2 volumes (17 7/8 x 12 in.; 455 x 306 mm). Red morocco, front covers with central blind-ruled lozenge enclosing the initials JG, spines gilt in six compartments, marbled endpapers, gilt edges; light scuffing to front cover of vol. 1.

bible, latin. (new york: pageant books, 1961)

Royal folio (391 × 283 mm). A single leaf: volume I, fo. 198 (quire 20, leaf 10), containing 1 Chronicles 8:37-10:14. 2 columns, 42 lines; initial spaces. Handsomely rubricated in red and blue. The leaf includes a Bull’s Head watermark. Bottom margin of leaf bleached to lighten a water stain, edges of leaf red-stained from preceding binding.. Black morocco binding gilt-titled on upper cover (Stikeman), in chipped slipcase with reinforced spine; including A. Edward Newton’s accompanying essay, A Noble Fragment, 1921. 

a leaf from the gutenberg bible. [mainz: johann gutenberg and johann fust, 1455]

Royal folio (391 × 286 mm). A single leaf, being volume I, fo. 88 (quire 9, leaf 8), containing Deuteronomy 6:16-8:15. 2 columns, 42 lines; initial spaces. Handsomely rubricated in red and blue. The leaf includes a Bull’s Head watermark. Edges of leaf red-stained from preceding binding. Black morocco binding gilt-titled on upper cover (Stikeman), including A. Edward Newton’s accompanying essay, A Noble Fragment, 1921. 

Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana

Royal folio (391 × 282 mm). 8 consecutive leaves: volume I, fos. 272-279 (quire 28, leaves 2-9) of the “Noble Fragment” copy of the Gutenberg Bible, being the entire Book of Esther. 2 columns, 42 lines, Type 1:146(138)G, initial spaces. Handsomely rubricated in red and blue (initial I of Esther in red-blue interlock with pale green ink filigree, headlines of alternate red-blue lombards, chapter numbers of alternate red-blue elements, chapter initials alternately red and blue, red capital strokes, tituli to prologue to Esther, Esther, and first prologue to Job in red textura, following the printed rubrication guide issued with copies of the Gutenberg Bible)

Royal folio (391 × 282 mm). 8 consecutive leaves: volume I, fos. 272-279 (quire 28, leaves 2-9) of the “Noble Fragment” copy of the Gutenberg Bible, being the entire Book of Esther. 2 columns, 42 lines, Type 1:146(138)G, initial spaces. Handsomely rubricated in red and blue (initial I of Esther in red-blue interlock with pale green ink filigree, headlines of alternate red-blue lombards, chapter numbers of alternate red-blue elements, chapter initials alternately red and blue, red capital strokes, tituli to prologue to Esther, Esther, and first prologue to Job in red textura, following the printed rubrication guide issued with copies of the Gutenberg Bible)Black morocco binding gilt titled on upper cover (Stikeman), including A. Edward Newton’s accompanying essay, A Noble Fragment, 1921. Edges of leaves slightly red-stained from preceding binding.Lower margin of fo. 272 replaced, not affecting text. The prologue initials for Esther (272v) and Job (279r) cut out and replaced by facsimiles, with ink facsimiles of the missing text on the other side of each patch; not affecting the Book of Esther.

[mainz: johann gutenberg and johann fust, 1455]

Important Medieval Manuscripts From the Collection of the Late Ernst Boehlen

BIBLIA LATINA. A fragment of a printed vellum leaf from the 36-line Bible, containing just over a column of printed text. [Bamberg: Printer of the 36-line Bible, not after 1461]

BIBLIA LATINA. A fragment of a printed vellum leaf from the 36-line Bible, containing just over a column of printed text. [Bamberg: Printer of the 36-line Bible, not after 1461] Royal folio, a fragment 393 x 175mm., containing a column from I Corinthians 7:12-25 (bound back-to-front), 36 lines, type 164G, red initial-strokes and with part of a running title in red ink, extracted from a binding with creases and cuts to corners from being folded round a book, and two slits in the text from the insertion of clasps or catchplates, in a modern card cover with green morocco gilt lettering piece, traces of glue on recto, verso soiled A RARE SURVIVAL of a leaf from the second printed Bible, probably produced in Bamberg, plausibly by Albert Pfister. Although post-dating the Gutenberg Bible by a few years, this is a much rarer edition which mostly survives in fragments like this, removed from bindings, with only 14 substantial or complete copies. The complete copies are all on paper, whereas the fragments are on both paper and vellum, and the vellum fragments can be assigned to perhaps six different copies. The typeface is a recast version of the Gutenberg type (lot 50) in a slightly larger size, resulting in fewer lines per page, and is considered the third state of the D-K type used for this group of the earliest European printed works. Printing must have been completed by 1461 when a copy was dated by its rubricator. The typeface was used by Albert Pfister in Bamberg in 1461-1462, but firm evidence that he was the printer is still to be found. The printing of the bible was commissioned by the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg, Georg von Schaumberg, for whom Pfister worked as a clerk. A vellum copy was used as binder's waste at the Jesuit College of Munich in the early seventeenth century; other leaves from this copy are now in Munich University Library, the Scheide Library, the Bridwell Library, the Newberry Library, and the Rosenwald Collection at the Library of Congress. The present leaf is sufficiently similar in appearance to indicate the same line of survival. The traces of a binding stamp can be seen on the left hand edge of this fragment, which may have been used as a liner between the board and the covering. PROVENANCE [?Munich, Jesuit college]Hartung & Hartung, Munich, Auktion 68, 12-14 May 1992, lot 260The Boehlen collection, Bern, MS 1412 REFERENCES ISTC ib00527000; De Ricci (M) 23, this fragment not listed; Eric M. White, "New provenances for four copies of the 36-line Bible", The Book Collector 62 (2013), 403-434

View 1 of Lot 51: BIBLIA LATINA. A fragment of a printed vellum leaf from the 36-line Bible, containing just over a column of printed text. [Bamberg: Printer of the 36-line Bible, not after 1461]

biblia latina. a fragment of a printed vellum leaf from the 36-line bible, containing just over a column of printed text. [bamberg: printer of the 36-line bible, not after 1461]

Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library. The Reference Library

Lot Comprises: Johann Gutenberg Roland Folter, The Gutenberg Bible in The Antiquarian Book Trade, off‐print from Martin Davies, Incunabula: Studies in Fifteenth‐Century Books presented to Lotte Hellinga, London, British Library, 1999, 8vo., in printed wrappers Johann Gutenberg Janet Ing Freeman, Johann Gutenberg and his Bible: a historical study [preface by Paul Needham], New York, Typophiles [printed by Michael & Winifred Bixler], 1988, 8vo., maroon cloth gilt, dust jacket Johann Gutenberg Gutenberg: Man of the Millennium. From a Secret Enterprise to the First Media Revolution, abridged version of the catalogue of the exhibition staged by the city of Mainz [April 14-October 3, 2000], Mainz, Stadt Mainz, 2000, large 4to., publisher's boards Johann Gutenberg H. George Fletcher, ed., Gutenberg and the Genesis of Printing, New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, 1994, thin 4to., publisher's printed wrappers Johann Gutenberg Otto W. Fuhrmann, Gutenberg and the Strasbourg Documents of 1439: An Interpretation, New York, Wooly Whale Press, 1940, 4to., publisher's red cloth gilt, slipcase Johann Gutenberg Albert Kapr, Johann Gutenberg: The Man and his Invention (translated by Douglas Martin), Aldershot, 1996, 4to., publisher's black cloth, dust jacket Johann Gutenberg John Man, Gutenberg: How One Man Remade the World with Words, New York, John Wiley & Sons, 2002, 8vo., publisher's tan boards, dust jacket Johann Gutenberg Hellmut Lehmann‐Haupt, Gutenberg and the Master of the Playing Cards, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1966, fol., publisher's black & red cloth gilt Johann Gutenberg Massimo Miglio & Orietta Rossini, ed., Gutenberg e Roma: le origini della stampa nella Città dei Papi (1467-1477), Naples, Electa, 1997, square 4to., publisher's printed wrappers Johann Gutenberg Victor Scholderer, Johann Gutenberg: The Inventor of Printing, London, British Library, 1970, 8vo., pamphlet, publisher's printed wrappers Sold as a group, not subject to return.

View 1 of Lot 69: Book production - Printing - Germany, 1455-1500 - Johann Gutenberg

book production - printing - germany, 1455-1500 - johann gutenberg

TWO ILLUMINATED BORDERS incorporating a design by the Master of the Playing Cards, cut from a choirbook, illuminated manuscript on vellum

TWO ILLUMINATED BORDERS incorporating a design by the Master of the Playing Cards, cut from a choirbook, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Austria (Danube Valley), late 15th century (c. 1480s)] two cuttings, one (a) horizontal, c. 95 × 310mm, and one (b) vertical, c. 310 × 95mm, each with a fine illuminated foliage border, cut from the left and lower margins respectively of an unidentified manuscript, apparently from the same leaf, the reverse of (a) with a pair of vertical rulings in red on both sides, and small traces of gothic script and a flourished initial, the reverse of (b) with traces of four-line red staves and music in square notation, and inscribed in pencil ‘Mark Lansburgh, Santa Barbara, 1964 (Taos, N.M.)’; (a) with a bird and naturalistic stag with large antlers encountering semi-naturalistic winged insect, (b) with four naturalistic birds, a dragon-head, and a cartoon-like plant with a human face, the reverse of each with a blue ink-stamp ‘Lansburgh’ in capitals in an arch shape; framed with a label in Mark Lansburgh’s handwriting on the reverse of each. PROVENANCE Mark Lansburgh (1925–2013), teacher, hand-press printer, and book collector (on whom see Dutschke, 2024), apparently acquired in 1964: with his inscriptions and ink-stamps on the reverse of each; published by Lehmann-Haupt in 1966; sold in March 1989 to:The Boehlen Collection, Bern, MS 1410 ILLUMINATION The leftmost grey and pink foliage of the horizontal border matches the lowermost grey and pink foliage of the vertical border, showing that these two cuttings were originally part of the same page. The stag in the horizontal border is extremely close in design to, and clearly based on, one of the stags by the so-called Master of the Playing Cards: Lehmann-Haupt (1966, p. 26) reproduces the present cutting alongside the equivalent stag in the Hours of Catherine of Cleves (New York, Morgan Library, MS. M.917/945, fol. 90r), the Giant Bible of Mainz (Washington DC, Library of Congress, fol. 2v), and the model for all three, the engraving by the Master of the Playing Cards (the latter is also reproduced by van Buren & Edmunds, 1974, fig. 3, upper right stag). He concludes that ‘The style of the Lansburgh fragment indicates that the manuscript could well have originated in Mainz some time in the third quarter of the fifteenth century’ (p. 25). The Master of the Playing Cards’ designs were widely used for such borders (see e.g. van Buren & Edmunds, 1974) and there is no reason to doubt that this was the present illuminator’s source, but the cards were also disseminated widely, so there is no reason to find a link with Mainz; in fact, as Eberhard König (1983) has shown, copies of the Gutenberg Bibles were usually not illuminated at Mainz, but at the city for which they were purchased. The illumination of the present cuttings can instead be associated with the so-called ‘Schreier-Nachfolge’ in Austria; this can be divided into several imperfectly-defined groupings, including works attributed to the Morandus-Meister, the Engelbrecht-Meister, the Meister des Wolfgang-Missales, and the Meister des Koloman-Antiphonars. The present cuttings are very close in style to the latter group, published by Armand Tif: an incunable in Vienna (ÖNB, Ink. 18.A.13 Bd. 2, fol. 2r; reproduced by Tif, 2014, Abb. 10), for example, exhibits the same palette and leafy forms, it includes a stag derived from the Master of the Playing Cards, and it includes two human faces like cartoon characters that emerge out of the foliage, very much like the face in the vertical cutting here. REFERENCES H. Lehmann-Haupt, Gutenberg and the Master of the Playing Cards (New Haven, 1966), at pp. 25–26, 67, plus the loose fold-out chart, and with the present stag motif stamped in gilt on the front cover. D. Miner, The Giant Bible of Mainz, 500th Anniversary: April Fourth, Fourteen Fifty-Two – April Fourth, Nineteen Fifty-Two (Pennsylvania: Library of Congress, 1952) A.H. van Buren and S. Edmunds, ‘Playing Cards and Manuscripts; Some Widely Disseminated Fifteenth-Century Model Sheets’, Art Bulletin, 56 (1974), pp. 12–30 E König, ‘The Influence of the Invention of Printing on the Development of German Illumination’, in Manuscripts in the Fifty Years after the Invention of Printing, ed. by J. B. Trapp (London, 1983), pp. 85–94, pls. 39–46. A. Tif, ‘Der Illuminator des Koloman-Antiphonars: Zur Frage der Mobilität eines Buchausstatters im donauösterreichischen Raum um 1480’, in Wege zum illuminierten Buch: Herstellungsbedingungen für Buchmalerei in Mittelalter und früher Neuzeit, ed. by C. Beier and E.T. Kubina (Vienna, 2014), pp. 80–104 (available online). C. Dutschke, ‘Mark Lansburgh: Collector and Seller of Medieval Manuscripts’, in Medieval Manuscripts and Their Provenance: Essays in Honour of Barbara A. Shailor, ed. by A.S.G. Edwards (Woodbridge, 2024), pp. 116–31.

View 1 of Lot 48: TWO ILLUMINATED BORDERS incorporating a design by the Master of the Playing Cards, cut from a choirbook, illuminated manuscript on vellum. [Austria (Danube Valley), late 15th century (c. 1480s)]

two illuminated borders incorporating a design by the master of the playing cards, cut from a choirbook, illuminated manuscript on vellum. [austria (danube valley), late 15th century (c. 1480s)]

Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library. The Aldine Collection A–C

Bible. Latin. Biblia sacra vulgatae editionis tribus tomis distincta. Rome: Stamperia Apostolica Vaticana, 1590

Bible. Latin. Biblia sacra vulgatae editionis tribus tomis distincta. Rome: Stamperia Apostolica Vaticana, 1590 First and only edition of the Sixtine Vulgate, the first papally authorized edition of the Latin Bible. Rare on the market. In the 1580s scholars in Rome under the direction of Cardinal Antonio Carafa worked for years on emending the Latin Bible text but Sixtus V, confident in his learning and impatient of their progress, decided to set their work aside and assume editorship himself, even correcting proofs. Sixtus introduced his own system of verse numbering, seeing the now widely accepted verse divisions of Robert Estienne as smelling of heresy. He omitted all the traditional prologues, including the authentic prologues of Jerome, and excluded the Prayer of Manasseh and apocryphal books 3 and 4 Ezra, present in most editions from the Gutenberg Bible onward. Printing was completed in May 1590, and copies were sent that month to the leading rulers of Catholic Europe. The preliminaries include a Bull of Sixtus, Aeternus ille celestium, declaring the text to be immutable and forbidding any reprint without papal permission. Sixtus died in late August 1590, and early the following month the College of Cardinals suspended sale and distribution of the edition. Sixtus’s Bull was ignored. The College requested the return of copies already sent out, but with only partial success. Many Jesuit colleges in northern Europe held on to their copies. In April 1594 the copies of the Sixtine Vulgate that had been returned to Rome were pulped. For two years after 1590 there was no official Latin Bible, but the many earlier post-Tridentine editions of Louvain and Antwerp (notably of Plantin) were considered fully acceptable. The hurry of printing led to many typographical errors which were partially corrected by hand and by small paste-on printed cancels, whose presence and absence varies considerably from copy to copy. A number of such corrections are present in this copy. 3 volumes in one, Super-Median folio (341 x 233 mm). Roman type, double column, 47 lines plus headline. collation: π2 ππ2; *6 **2; A-Rr6 [Genesis-Job]; ***2 Ss-Ffff6 [Psalms-2 Maccabees]; ****2 Gggg-Aaaaa6 Bbbbb8 [New Testament]. π2 misbound after *6. Title printed in red and black, additional engraved title-page, woodcut initials. (Both titles and π2 laid down, the engraved title trimmed short of the plate edges; lacking *1_8 which have been supplied in typographic facsimile, probably in the eighteenth century, some foxing and browning. A manuscript note on the verso of the title-page, "Non amoveatur sub pena excommunicationis," perhaps indicates that it was under restricted access in some library.) binding: Eighteenth-century Italian sprinkled sheep (351 x 257 mm), spine gilt in compartments with red morocco lettering- piece, red edges, vellum index tabs at start of each volume. (Binding slightly rubbed and scraped.) acquisition: Purchased from Librairie Quentin, Molènes, 1997. references: Darlow & Moule 6181; Edit16 5805; Renouard 243/1. Note: The pervasive statement that Aldo Manuzio the younger (d. 1595) was the head of the Vatican Press is incorrect. He lived in Rome as professor of rhetoric at the university, but was only taken on as a corrector at the press, one among several, in 1595.

View 1 of Lot 193:  Biblia sacra vulgatae editionis, Rome, Stamperia apostolica vaticana, 1590, later calf

biblia sacra vulgatae editionis, rome, stamperia apostolica vaticana, 1590, later calf

Bible, Latin Biblia Latina, 2 fragments from the Fust and Schöffer 48-line Bible [Mainz: Johann Fust & Peter Schöffer , 14 August 1462] Folio (332 x 158 mm, 325 x 224 mm), double column, 48-lines printed in Gotico-Antiqua type 5:118; with one 7-line high exuberant puzzle initial ‘T’ in blue and red ink with red vegetal infill of red ink drawing, surrounded by purple and red extenders that connect to the 5-line high initial above also infilled with purple ink tracings in a vegetal design, titles and chapters in alternating red and blue letters, red and blue two-line initials, rubricated capital initials; decorated fragment ending chapter 4 book of Ester, prologue to the book of Tobit, and beginning of first book of Tobit; second text fragment with two 2-line high initials, one red, one blue, containing Ezekiel 23-28; marginal darkening and occasional spotting TWO FRAGMENTS FROM THE FOURTH PRINTED BIBLE, created in cooperation by the banker Johann Fust and printer-publisher Peter Schöffer in Mainz, issued on the 14th August 1462. The printed predecessors of the Fust and Schöffer Bible were the 42-line Gutenberg Bible, the 36-line Pfister Bible (Bamberg) and the 49-line Mentelin Bible (Strasbourg). The text source of this bible-edition was a copy of the Gutenberg bible with manuscript corrections. With its specifically developed Gotico-Antiqua type and its finely drawn initials, it is evident why the Fust and Schöffer bible was also called the "Biblia pulcra" (beautiful bible). Around 80 copies of this bible survive, with editions created on both vellum and paper. The wide distribution throughout most of Europe, including France, Italy, Bohemia and England, gives evidence of the popularity of the Fust and Schöffer edition. PROVENANCE: 1. Printed in 1462 in Mainz by Johann for Fust and Peter Schöffer. 2. The Bible was likely disassembled following the 16th century and its leaves used in a variety of ways in the production of printed books, most often as binding support. 3. From the collection of the renowned bibliophile Paul Hirsch (1881–1951). Born into a German-Jewish industrial family, he soon developed a great appreciation for books and was a passionate and accomplished musician. He created the largest private library in Europe, and his collection of music, encompassing over 18,000 items, is now held at the British Library. Following the rise of National Socialism in Germany Hirsch fled Germany in 1936 to settle in Cambridge; 4. by descent to the current owner. See previous lot and lots 147-149. REFERENCES: ISTC ib00529000 Ikeda, Makumi, ‘The First Experiments in Book Decoration at the Fust-Schöffer Press’ in: Wagner, Bettina; Reed, Marcia (eds.). Early Printed Books as Material Objects: Proceedings of the Conference Organized by the Ifla Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Munich, 19–21 August 2009. De Gruyter, pp.39-51; Als die Lettern laufen lernten: Medienwandel im 15. Jahrhundert. Inkunabeln aus der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München. ed. by Bettina Wagner. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2009; Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke. Bd. I [etc.] Stuttgart, etc., 1968- [in progress]. (Vols. 1-7 reproduced with additions and corrections from the original edition (Leipzig, etc., 1925-38)). [See also GW Manuskript - GW M: http://www.gesamtkatalogderwiegendrucke.de] 4204

View 1 of Lot 6: Biblia Latina | 2 fragments from the Fust and Schöffer 48-line Bible [Mainz: Johann Fust & Peter Schöffer , 14 August 1462]

biblia latina | 2 fragments from the fust and schöffer 48-line bible [mainz: johann fust & peter schöffer , 14 august 1462]

BIBLIA LATINA. A bifolium printed on vellum from the Gutenberg or 42-line Bible. [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg, c. 1454-1455]

BIBLIA LATINA. A bifolium printed on vellum from the Gutenberg or 42-line Bible. [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg, c. 1454-1455] Royal folio (342 x 290mm.; lower margin replaced to give a leaf height of 408mm.), conjoint bifolium 14/2_9 (folios 132 and 139 of volume II), containing the text of Daniel I:18-II:46 and X:12-XI:39, 42 lines, double column, type 140G, one 2-line initial in blue (very faded), one initial supplied in red, chapter numbers and running title supplied in red, capitals filled with yellow, eighteenth-century title written in centre of first recto, modern red morocco binding, both upper corners excised with loss of a few words, a few small wormholes at head with slight loss of text, slightly rubbed and creased across head A CONJOINT BIFOLIUM FROM THE GUTENBERG BIBLE, THE FIRST PRINTED BOOK IN EUROPEAN HISTORY. For a long time, however, copies were not identified as printed but thought to be manuscript, because of the textura typeface and manuscript rubrication and decoration. This leaf comes from the Sopron/Ödenburg group of fragments, as identified by Eric White, due to the notable yellow infilling of letters. Ödenburg is now known as Sopron, a town now in the north-western corner of Hungary close to the Austrian border, but not many miles from Wiener Neustadt where Enea Silvio Piccolomini famously saw some quires of a printed Bible in 1455, which had been taken to show to the Emperor. Other leaves from this group are in Sopron, Klagenfurt and Budapest, along with two leaves at Bryn Mawr College (Pennsylvania) that were in an auction in Munich in the 1920s. The present bifolium also has a Munich connection as well as the manuscript reference to Oberneukirchen on the cover; there are towns with this name in both Bavaria and Upper Austria. The sheet was used as a wrapper for a volume from the guild of tailors in Oberneukirchen, with the eighteenth-century manuscript title "Schneider Innung zu Oberneukirchen" in the centre of the first recto. PROVENANCE Oberneukirchen, Tailors' guild, eighteenth centuryKarl & Faber, Munich, sale, 10 December 1941, lot 6Ludwig Strecker (1883-1978), purchased from Karl & Faber, and bound for himSale, Sotheby's, London, 9 December 2003, lot 17The Boehlen Collection, Bern, MS 1424 REFERENCES ISTC ib00526000; Eric M. White, "The Gutenberg Bibles that survive as binder's waste" in Early printed books as material objects (IFLA conference proceedings, Munich, 2009; De Gruyter, 2010), 21-38, census group 6

View 1 of Lot 50: BIBLIA LATINA, a bifolium, printed on vellum. [Mainz: Gutenberg, c. 1454-1455]

biblia latina, a bifolium, printed on vellum. [mainz: gutenberg, c. 1454-1455]

Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library Part VII

BURE, GUILLAUME FRANÇOIS DE. Bibliographie instructive: on traité de la connoissance des livres rare et singuliers. Paris: Didot for De Bure le Jeune, 1763-1769, and [vol. 10] Demonville for Goguée & Née de la Rochelle, 1782 [bound with:]

BURE, GUILLAUME FRANÇOIS DE. Bibliographie instructive: on traité de la connoissance des livres rare et singuliers. Paris: Didot for De Bure le Jeune, 1763-1769, and [vol. 10] Demonville for Goguée & Née de la Rochelle, 1782 [bound with:] Lettre à M.*** servant de réponse à une critique de la Bibliographie instructive. [Paris: 1763] [and:] Appel aux savans et aux gens de lettres, au sujet de la Bibliographie instructive. [Paris:] 1763 FIRST EDITION OF ALL TEN VOLUMES of the antiquarian bookseller Guillaume François de Bure's expansive bibliography of rare books, THE FIRST TO CATEGORISE AND DESCRIBE THE GUTENBERG BIBLE ("Bible Mazarine"). This reference work is organised according to the five categories used by French bibliographer and bookseller Prosper Marchand for the Bigot sale, the first book auction in France for which a catalogue was printed: theology, jurisprudence, sciences and arts (initially called philosophy), belles-lettres, and history. Volumes VIII and IX, entitled Supplement a la Bibliographie Instructive, ou Catalogue des Livres du Cabinet de feu M. Louis Jean Gaignat, are the auction catalogue of Gaignat (1697-1768), with manuscript prices in brown ink in the margins.

View 1 of Lot 1615: Bure, Bibliographie instructive, Paris, 1763-1782, 10 volumes, contemporary French mottled calf, Anthony Hobson's copy

bure, bibliographie instructive, paris, 1763-1782, 10 volumes, contemporary french mottled calf, anthony hobson's copy

Lot Comprises: [John] Paul Getty, 1956-2011 H. George Fletcher, ed., The Wormsley Library : a personal selection by Sir Paul Getty [catalogue of an exhibition held at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, 27 January-2 May 1999], London & New York, Maggs Bros. Ltd / Pierpont Morgan Library, 1999, fol., publisher's printed wrappers Charles William Dyson Perrins, 1864-1958 Alfred W. Pollard, Italian Book‐Illustrations and Early Printing: A Catalogue of Early Italian Books in the Library of C.W. Dyson Perrins, (London, 1914), reprint Austin, W. Thomas Taylor, 1994, fol., publisher's grey cloth Charles William Dyson Perrins, 1864-1958 Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of the magnificent library principally of early printed and early illustrated books formed by C.W. Dyson Perrins, Esq., of Davenham, Malvern, and now sold by his order. The second portion: books printed in Spain, France, Germany and the Low Countries, London, 4-5 1946 - - … The third portion: books printed in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Poland, including the splendid Gosford-Amherst copy of the first volume of the Gutenberg Bible, London, 10-11 March 1947, 2 vols. Sir Robert Leighton, 1884-1959 Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of valuable and extensive library, the property of the late Sir Robert Leighton, The second portion: fine bindings, early printed books and a few manuscripts, London, 17-18 October 1960 Edward Gordon Duff, 1863-1924 Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, Catalogue of the library of the late Edward Gordon Duff, Esq., 293, Woodstock, Road, Oxford, sometime Sandars Reader in bibliography in the University of Cambridge, The first portion: the collection of early stamped bindings, London, 16 March 1925 - - The second portion: the general library comprising rare works of early English literature; incunabula; bibliography; interesting English, Scotch and Continental bindings, London, 17-19 March 1925, 2 vols. John Walter Hely Hutchinson, 1882-1955 Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of the celebrated library of valuable printed books, fine bindings and manuscripts, the property of the late J.W. Hely-Hutchinson, Esq., Chippenham Lodge, Ely, London, 12-14 March 1956 Sir George Lindsay Holford, 1860-1926 Sotheby & Co., The Holford Library, Part I: Catalogue of the magnificent series of illuminations on vellum forming part of the collections at Dorchester House, Park Lane, the property of Lt.-Col. Sir George Holford, K.C.V.O. (deceased), London, 12 July 1927 - - Part II: Catalogue of extremely choice & valuable books principally from continental presses, and in superb morocco bindings, London, 5-9 December 1927 - - Part III: Catalogue of choice, rare & valuable books, principally in English literature or relating to the fine arts, London, 26-30 March 1928 - - Part IV: Catalogue of valuable books on natural history, horticulture and ornithology, art, archaeology and bibliography, travel; English and foreign literature, etc., London, 4-7 June 1928 Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery and Midlothian, 1847-1929 Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of the well-known and very valuable library formed at Durdans, Epsom, by the late Rt. Hon.ble. the Earl of Rosebery, KG, KT, sold by order of his daughter Lady Sybil Grant, and (in the case of heirlooms) with the consent of the court. The first and second portions, London, 26-30 June 1933 Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess Lothian, 1882-1940 American Art Association, Illuminated manuscripts, incunabula and Americana from the famous libraries of the Most Hon. the Marquess of Lothian, C.H. sold by his order, removed from Blickling Hall, Norfolk, and Newbattle Abbey, Midlothian [other title:] Selections from the famous libraries of the Most Hon. the Marquess of Lothian, New York, 27-28 January 1932 Sold as a group, not subject to return.

View 1 of Lot 202: Books and readers - Book collectors - Britain - 20C

books and readers - book collectors - britain - 20c

Antiquarian Books and Manuscripts

Property from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Property from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery Large leaf from a Bible Decorated manuscript in Latin on vellum. [Germany, 15th century (middle?)] Single leaf, c.450×285mm; 2 columns of 46 lines (c.305×195mm); the text comprising Isaiah 43:22–45:19; decorated with a chapter initial on each side, alternating blue with reddish penwork, or red with yellowish penwork; running header ‘YSA IAS’. With some minor cockling and staining at the edges, but a large and imposing leaf, similar in dimensions and overall appearance to a Gutenberg Bible. LITERATURE: Judith Oliver, Manuscripts Sacred and Secular from the Collections of the Endowment for Biblical Research and Boston University (Boston, 1985), no. 42. Scott Gwara, Otto Ege’s Manuscripts (Cayce, SC, 2013), Handlist no. 233; citing only two other leaves. PROVENANCE: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; [Gallery Purchase, 1942?] (1942:468.21)

View 1 of Lot 19: Large leaf from a Bible, decorated manuscript in Latin on vellum, [Germany, 15th century (middle?)]

large leaf from a bible, decorated manuscript in latin on vellum, [germany, 15th century (middle?)]

Fine Books and Manuscripts including Property from the Eric C. Caren Collection

Property from the Collection of Dr. Charles Caldwell Ryrie

Property from the Collection of Dr. Charles Caldwell Ryrie BIBLE IN LATIN Bible, Latin. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 16 November 1475 Royal folio (401 × 288 mm). Collation: [1-810 9-108 (Octateuch); 11-2310 24-258 (Kings, Chronicles, 1-4 Ezra, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Job, Psalms); 26-3810 3912 (Proverbs-Ecclesiasticus, Major and Minor Prophets, Maccabees); 40-4810 496 (+5*: quoniam vna hora) (New Testament, colophon 49/6r, verso blank)]: 481 leaves. In this copy the conjugate of the inserted leaf 24/5* is preserved as a full blank leaf intervening between 24/1 and 2. It was intended to be cut away to a stub, and so is not counted in the collation. Two columns, 48 lines. Initial spaces, rubricated red (irregularly, chapter initials stop being added in Numbers, headlines stop in Joshua, Psalms entirely unrubricated). Contemporary pink leather binding, the covers seemingly impressed with a single large block of floral pattern, and the edges correspondingly painted in green with a floral pattern, two fore-edge catchplates with a rosette pattern, the binding badly worn and wormed, spine rebacked with sheep, upper cover loose. Worming continues to leaves at front and back. The first of six Vulgate Bible editions in Royal folio format printed by Koberger from 1475 to 1480. Its contents including prologues are exactly those of the Gutenberg Bible and its immediate descendants, though Koberger’s specific source has not been identified. LITERATURE: Formatting the Word of God 2.3a; Goff B-543; GW 4218; BMC I I 413 (IC.7131); BSB-Ink B-420; Bod-inc B-252 PROVENANCE: Benedictines of Lambach, with deleted inscription “Monasterij […]”, and equally deleted black ink oval stamp “ad bibliothec: monast: [lambacens:]”

bible in latin | bible, latin. nuremberg: anton koberger, 16 november 1475

THE JAMES S. COPLEY LIBRARY: ARTS & SCIENCES, INCLUDING THE MARK TWAIN COLLECTION

[Bible]. New York, 1961 2 volumes, folio (18 3/4 x 12 in.; 477 x 304 mm). Facsimile of Gutenberg Bible. Full light brown morocco with fasteners, some light wear with covers slightly beveled, bookplates; together with one other.

pageant books

bible. latin. [mainz: johann gutenberg and johann fust, c. 1454-1455], royal folio...

Royal folio (409 × 188 mm), a partial vellum leaf preserving the outer column and part of the inner column, being volume II, fo. 364 (37/2), containing portions of 2 Corinthians 7:11-9:13; with glue stains and other marks contingent on its use as a document wrapper; rubricated in red and blue (chapter 9 initial, the initial number in alternating red and blue elements; capital strokes). In blue cloth folding case.

a leaf from the 36-line bible. [bamberg: albrecht pfister, using types of johann gutenberg, not after 1461]

bible in latin [mainz: johann gutenberg & johann fust, c. 1455]

Important Judaica

Hebrew Bible printed on parchment Naples: Joshua Solomon Soncino, [1492] A Rare Copy of the Second Printed Hebrew Bible Description: In the wake of the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-fifteenth century, Jews quickly and enthusiastically adopted the new technology for the printing of Hebrew books. Italy was the cradle of Hebrew printing, with the first Hebrew books printed in Rome between 1469-1472. During this period, Italy was home to the most prosperous Jewish communities in Europe, providing the expertise, readership, and capital that enabled a rapid expansion of Hebrew book production. Among the pioneers of early Hebrew printing in Italy, the Soncino family is undoubtedly the most prominent, innovative, and prolific. Originally from Speyer in Germany, the Soncinos established a printing dynasty that dominated Hebrew printing for nearly a century. In 1483, Israel Nathan and his son Joshua Solomon founded their press at Soncino, a small town near Cremona in the Duchy of Milan. There they printed eighteen titles before moving their operation to Naples in 1490. Members of the family subsequently set up shops in multiple locations in Italy, with Gershom (son of Moses; Joshua’s nephew) the most active, ultimately extending Soncino printing into the Ottoman Empire. The family was responsible for printing more than sixty incunables, the majority of Hebrew incunabula produced in Italy. Technically and typographically, the Soncinos were innovators. In 1488, they issued the first complete printed Hebrew Bible. One reason suggested for the belated printing of the Hebrew Bible is the difficulty of incorporating vowels (nikudot) and cantillation marks (te’amim) and it is a testament to the family’s remarkable inventiveness and skill that their edition included full vocalization and cantillation throughout. The Soncinos also pioneered the complex page architecture of the Talmud with its various commentaries later standardized by the Venetian printer Daniel Bomberg, and they broadened the range of genres available to Jewish readers by printing books of belles-lettres, some even with illustrations. The present volume, the Soncinos’ Naples Hebrew Bible, is the second complete printed Hebrew Bible. Remarkably, it is printed on vellum rather than on paper, a technically challenging and costly procedure. The extensive use of such an expensive material—traditionally employed for Torah scrolls—testifies to the great importance they accorded this landmark edition. The Soncinos also took great pride in the aesthetics of their work and were the first Hebrew printers to introduce ornamented initials. Their artistic sensibility is vividly displayed in this edition of the Bible in the elaborate metalcuts used to mark textual divisions. Only ten full copies of this edition are known, along with five partial copies. This copy is the fullest to appear on the market in many decades. Physical Description: Folio (275 x 200 mm); printed on parchment; 198 folios, original printed foliation appears on versos. Genesis 18:17 to Ecclesiastes 7:15 (10r–120v) and Psalms to 2 Chronicles 6:30 (225r–414v). Type: square Hebrew type: large display; large square (with vocalization and cantillation); small square (for numeration of verses). Decoration: initials and borders attributed to Ayolfus de Cantono. Binding: later decoratively blind-stamped brown morocco, spine with six raised bands and gilt title; gilt edges and turn-ins; patterned cloth endpapers. Provenance: The Chicago Theological Seminary, Hammond Library (pastedown label); Current owner. Reference: ISTC ib00525520; Goff Heb-9; Offenberg 11; Iakerson 61. Literature: Otto Lehman, “The Hebrew Treasures of the Chicago Theological Seminary,” The Chicago Theological Seminary Register 57:5 (1967), 1–10. Shimon M. Iakerson, Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula from the Collection of the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary (New York, 2005). Adri K. Offenberg, Hebrew Incunabula in Public Collections: A First International Consensus (Nieuwkoop, 1990).

View 1 of Lot 66: Hebrew Bible printed on parchment, Naples, 1492

hebrew bible printed on parchment, naples, 1492

[Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, ca. 1454-55]

[Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, ca. 1454-55] Royal folio (14 1/4  x 10 1/2  in.; 362 x 267 mm.).  Double columns, 42 lines.  A single leaf, being volume I,  folio 146 (15/8), with 1 Regum (1 Samuel) 29:6–31:12. Rubricated with divided head lines and chapter numbers in alternate red and blue lombards, alternate red and blue chapter initials, roman chapter numerals in alternate red and blue characters, red capital strokes; small rust spot in upper outer corner, some marginal soiling. Black blind-tooled morocco, in a slipcase; foot of spine chipped, slipcase torn.

bible, latin

[Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, ca. 1454-1455]

[Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, ca. 1454-1455] Royal folio (15 3/8 x 11 1/4 in.; 390 x 286 mm). Double columns, 42 lines. A single leaf, volume I, folio 66 97/6), Numbers 4:17-5:31, blue chapter initial, roman chapter numeral in red, red capital strokes, headlines in alternate blue and red ombards; light marginal foxing, traces of vellum guard. Black morocco by Stikeman, tooled with blind arabesques in the corners of covers, upper board and spine lettered, gilt dentelles; joints rubbed, small loss to foot of spine, dentelles offset to front free endpapers. Original brown card folding case, paper spine label; upper board sunned.

bible in latin

[Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, c. 1454–55] 

[Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, c. 1454–55]  Royal folio (390 × 284 mm). Double column, 42 lines. A single leaf, being volume I, fo. 54 (6/4), containing Leviticus 11:26-13:29. Rubricated with divided head lines and chapter numbers in alternate red and blue lombards, alternate red and blue chapter initials, roman chapter numerals in alternate red and blue characters, red capital strokes; a little surface soiling. Matted, double-glazed, and framed.  

[Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, c.1454-1455]

[Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, c.1454-1455] Royal folio (344 x 288mm.), printed on vellum, 2 conjoint leaves only ([13]/2 and [13]/9, folios 132 and 139 of volume II, from the book of Daniel, I.18-II.46 and X.12-XI.39), double column, 42 lines, Gothic letter, one 2-line initial space, initial-strokes in yellow, headlines, one large initial and chapter headings supplied in red, twentieth-century red morocco, soiled, lacking upper corner of each leaf with loss of 2-3 lines of text from half of one column, lower margin trimmed and replaced

bible. latin.

[Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, ca. 1454-1455] Royal folio (15 3/8 x 11 1/4 in.; 390 x 286 mm.). Double columns, 42 lines. A single leaf, being volume II, folio 88 (9/8), with the last 11 lines of Jeremiah 33 through most of Jeremiah 35. Rubricated with divided head lines and chapter numbers in alternate red and blue lombards, alternate red and blue chapter initials, roman chapter numerals in alternate red and blue characters, red capital strokes; a few marginal spots, two small spots affecting but not obscuring text. Black blind-tooled morocco, in a black cloth drop-box; a few scrapes on covers.

Folios from the first Hebrew printing of the Pentateuch.

Folios from the first Hebrew printing of the Pentateuch. While one of the very first books issued from Gutenberg’s printing press was a copy of the Latin Bible, Jews did not print the Hebrew Bible until about twelve years after Hebrew printing began, around 1469. It has been suggested that this was due to the text’s special sanctity or the wide availability of manuscript copies, but the challenge of printing the Bible with vowels (nikudot) and cantillation marks (te’amim) was likely a factor as well. The man who printed the editio princeps of the Hebrew Pentateuch was Abraham ben Hayyim, with the financial backing of the banker Joseph ben Abraham Caravita. Beginning as a printer in Ferrara in the late 1470s, Abraham ben Hayyim subsequently moved to Mantua and later Bologna, where he worked for the press established by Caravita; in a later period, he was also associated with the famed Soncino press. It was in Bologna that he issued his extraordinary edition of this most sacred of texts, complete with full vocalization and cantillation marks, making it the first successful Hebrew book to include both. The text was edited by Joseph Hayyim ben Aaron Zarfati, who in the colophon praises the printer’s skill. Another technically innovative feature of Abraham ben Hayyim’s edition was the inclusion of the traditional Aramaic translation of the text, Targum Onkelos, and the classic commentary of the great eleventh-century scholar Solomon ben Isaac (Rashi), in an integrated, tripartite page architecture with the biblical text: the Targum in a column at the outer margin and Rashi’s commentary above and below. While Rashi’s commentary had been printed before, this was the first time it appeared together with the biblical text. This printing of Rashi was later praised by the famous printer Gershom Soncino as the best version of the text. The Bologna layout, with Scripture, Targum and Rashi, set a model for subsequent editions of the Hebrew Bible. This landmark publication is often described as the most important Hebrew book ever printed. The present copy was printed on vellum rather than on paper, a very expensive and technically demanding process. Most extant copies of this edition are similarly on vellum, perhaps owing to the perceived sanctity of the text and the desire to treat it similarly to a Torah scroll, traditionally written on parchment. Another feature connecting it to the manuscript medium is the presence of hand-drawn decorative floral flourishes in red and blue marking running titles and the start of sections. Such additions were common in manuscripts and appear in many early printed works as well. Physical Description Folio (275 x 190 mm); 11 leaves printed on parchment, from the first two quires: quire i, lacking leaves 5, 6, 9, and 10; quire ii, lacking leaves 11, 17, and 18. Script and layout: biblical text in one column in square type, fully vocalized and accented; Targum in a narrow outer column; Rashi in long lines above and below, both in semi-cursive type. Headlines present. Manuscript decoration/rubrication: running titles and selected parashiyyot markers with red floral penwork; parashah incipits embellished in blue, with red flourishes marking the opening of the corresponding Targum passage and blue flourishes for Rashi. Binding: later vellum; gilt spine; all edges gilt; patterned cloth endpapers. Provenance The Chicago Theological Seminary; current owner. Literature Reference works: ISTC ib00525570; Goff Heb-18; Offenberg 13; Iakerson 19. Shimon M. Iakerson, Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula from the Collection of the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary (New York, 2005).

View 1 of Lot 65: Pentateuch (Humash), with Targum Onkelos and Rashi’s Commentary, Printed on Parchment

pentateuch (humash), with targum onkelos and rashi’s commentary, printed on parchment

Antiquarian Books

Battista Fregoso De dictis factisque memorabilibus collectanea, a Camillo Gilino Latina facta. (Milan: Giovanni Giacomo Ferrari, 1509) folio (300 x 208mm.), woodcut initials, nineteenth-century half calf over marbled boards, spine gilt in compartments, d3 torn without loss, first few leaves lightly soiled, extremities slightly rubbed A compilation of memorabilia arranged by subject, in imitation of the work of Valerius Maximus, giving examples from the Bible and classical antiquity up to Fregoso's time ("a rerum humanarum primordio usque in p[rae]sens tempus"); the final entries relate to Henry VII's treatment of the last surviving members of the House of York. Under the section on ingenuity, he mentions the astronomer Guido Bonatti (see lot 54) and Gutenberg as well as Columbus. LITERATURE: Edit16 19894; Alden & Landis 509/6 PROVENANCE: Ex libris R. Lari, ink stamp on inside front cover

View 1 of Lot 113: Fregoso, De dictis factisque memorabilibus, Milan, 1509, later half calf

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