Collection of 19 rare single leaves, some with coloured or black and white woodcut illustrations, from the following Bibles, 8 of which are in pre-Lutheran translations: Offered by Thornton’s Bookshop/ Faringdon / UK We have also used “text page” instead of “text leaf” in the descriptions. £ 2,000 Vulgate bible . Anton (ius) Nuremberg Koberger, , 16 November, 1475 8th German bible . Augsburg, Anton Sorg, 1480 9th German bible. Biblia Germanica. Nuremberg, Anton Koberger, 1483, 11th German bible. Augsburg , Hans Schönsperger, 1487. 12th German bible. Augsburg, Hans Schönsperger, 1490. 13th German bible. Augsburg, Hans Otmar, 1507, Biblia cum concordantiis veteris & novi testamenti. Lyon, J. Moylin, 1516. 14th German bible, Augsburg Hans Otmar, 1518, the Low German (Plattdüütsch) Luther Bible, Lübeck , Ludwig Dietz, 1533/34 9 leaves from the Luther bible, Wittenberg, Hans Lufft, 1543 Full-page woodcut illustration, most probably by Lucas Cranach the Younger, from the Luther bible, Wittenberg, Hans Lufft, 1543 _________________________________________________________ The Pre-Lutheran German Bible According to the latest investigations, fourteen printed editions of the whole Bible in the Middle High German dialect, and three in the Low German, have been identified. Panzer already knew fourteen; see his Gesch. der nürnbergischen Ausgaben der Bibel, Nürnberg, 1778, p. 74. The first four, in large folio, appeared without date and place of publication, but were probably printed: 1, at Strassburg, by Heinrich Eggestein, about or before 1466 (the falsely so-called Mainzer Bibel of 1462); 2, at Strassburg, by Johann Mentelin, 1466 (?); 3, at Augsburg, by Jodocus Pflanzmann, or Tyner, 1470 (?); 4, at Nürnberg, by Sensenschmidt and Frissner, in 2 vols., 408 and 104 leaves, 1470-73 (?). The others are located, and from the seventh on also dated, viz.: 5, Augsburg, by Günther Zainer, 2 vols., probably between 1473-1475. 6, Augsburg, by the same, dated 1477 (Stevens says, 1475?). 7, The third Augsburg edition, by Günther Zainer, or Anton Sorg, 1477, 2 vols., 321 and 332 leaves, fol., printed in double columns; the first German Bible with a date. 8, The fourth Augsburg edition, by A. Sorg, 1480, folio. 9, Nürnberg, by Anton Koburger (also spelled Koberger), 1483. 10, Strassburg, by Johann Gruninger, 1485. 11 and 12, The fifth and sixth Augsburg editions, in small fol., by Hans Schönsperger, 1487 and 1490. 13, The seventh Augsburg edition, by Hans Otmar, 1507, small folio. 14, The eighth Augsburg edition, by Silvan Otmar, 1518, small folio. The Low Dutch Bibles were printed: 1, at Cologne, in large folio, double columns, probably 1480. The unknown editor speaks of previous editions and his own improvements. Stevens mentions two copies of the O. T. in Dutch, printed at Delf, 1477, 2 vols. fol. 2, At Lübeck, 1491 (not 1494), 2 vols. fol. with large woodcuts. 3, At Halberstadt, 1522. ____________________________________________________________ 1] Textpage from the Vulgate bible , Published by Anton (ius) Koberger, Nuremberg, 16 November, 1475 The first Latin Koberger bible, which follows the text of the Gutenberg Bible. Rubricated with ample margins. Unlike later edition he produced, this edition contained the complete text of the Bible but without any preliminary or supplementary material, commentaries or tables. 2 initials alternating in red and blue, with pen-work infill in red. --------------------------------------------------2] Text page from the 8th German bible Printed by Anton Sorg, Augsburg, 1480 “ Brief an die Philipper, Kapitel 2-4 (from: Epistle to the Philippians chapter 2-4 ) -------------------------------------------------------------- Germanica. Nuremberg, Anton Koberger, 17 February 1483, the 9th preLutheran German bible. 3] Biblia Single Bible leaf ,. 260 x 370 mm., Folio. Double columns, Initial and capital letters highlighted in red., mounted behind glassine, with coloured woodcut from the Bible. printed by Anton Koberger in 1483. Shows Adam and Eve being evicted from Paradise, the snake around a tree. Anton Koberger (ca 1440-1513) , goldsmith in Nuremberg. Godfather of Albrecht Durer. Koberger turned to printing in 1470 and soon established the largest printing house in Europe, employing over 100 workers and 24 printing presses. In addition, he often contracted with other printers, including Adolf Rusch of Strassbourg and Jacob Sacon of Lyon, to do additional printing work. Koberger printed over 200 titles of incunabula, including 15 different copies of the Latin Bible. His most famous work was the illustrated Nuremberg Chronicles which he published in 1493 in both German and Latin editions. It is believed he printed over 1000 copies of each at a time when most printers issued editions of only 300 copies. It is said that his only business blunder was when he turned down Martin Luther’s request to become Luther’s publisher. 4] Text page from the 11th German bible, the 5th Augsburg edition, published by Hans Schönsperger, 1487. [Sirach ] mounted, protected by glassine , 195 x 290 mm. 5] Text Page from the 12th German bible, The sixth Augsburg edition, published by Hans Schönsperger, 1490.from Moses chapter 19 + 20. Under glassine and mounted, 165 x 245 mm. 6] Text Page from the 13th German bible, The seventh Augsburg edition, published by Hans Otmar, 1507, from Moses chapter 7,8,9. Under glassine and mounted, 210 x 310 mm. Fine. 7] Text page from Biblia cum concordantiis veteris & novi testamenti. Printed by J. Moylin, Lyon 1516. Latin text printed in 2 colums in black and red, with 2 wood-engraved capital letters. 2 tiny holes in the right column Mounted behind glassine protection, in blank carton wraps. ________________________________ 8] Text Page with 2 coloured woodcuts on either side from the 14th German bible, The eighth Augsburg edition, published by Hans Otmar, 1518, from Mozes 18 + 20 . In double mount , woodcuts seen though windows. Some staining. Woodcuts: Abimelech Kills His Brothers ; Moses receives the 10 commandments. Only 10 copies of this 14th bible have been preserved in German libraries. (see: Eichenberger / Wendland: Deutsche Bibeln vor Luther. The woodcuts come from the workshop of Hans Schönsperger, Augsburg, who used these previously in the 11 th ( 1487) and 12th (1490) German bibles. They are copies of the Cologne woodcuts (c. 1478) ----------------------------------------------------------- 9] Textpage from the Low German (Plattdüütsch) Luther Bible, published in Lübeck by Ludwig Dietz in 1533/34 with woodcuts by Erhard Altdorfer. . Mounted with glassine protection. The Lübeck Bible of 1533/34 is the first middle low German edition of the Luther bible. It is also called the .Bugenhagen bible after the editior Johannes Bugenhagens It was the first edition of a complete bible using Luther’s translation and appeared before the first complete High German edition. See: Reinitzer, Biblia deutsch: Nr. 66, page 166. Note: the light spots in these photographs are due to the glassine protection Micah, meaning "who is the LORD?", was a prophet who prophesied from approximately 737–696 BC in Judah and is the author of the Book of Micah. _______________________________________ 10 – 18] 9 leaves from the Luther bible, printed in by Hans Lufft, Luther’s main Bible publisher, in Wittenberg in 1543.one leaf “Der Prophet Nahum” [ a minor prophet whose prophecy is recorded in the Hebrew Bible. ] with woodcut, 4 leaves from “Der Psalter” i.e. Psalm LVI – XVIII and LXXII (part) LXXIII and LXXIIII and 4 from Hesekiel. Presented behind glassine protection all in one folio-sized mount. Most pages are browned and trimmed on the right hand sides resulting in some loss of the marginal annotations. The typography of this bible is a curiosity . Georg Rörer, (1492 – 1557 ) who supervised the printing of the Wittenberg editions of Martin Luther’s translationS of this and the previous Bible, developed typographical ‘aids’ for the reader in the form of roman typeface in certain words. The idea was that roman typeface was used for negatively connoted words, while positively connoted words were presented exclusively in gothic . Typography causing ideological shifts in a translation. Rörer, meant well, but Luther called it “Narrenwerk” and did not allow this practice to continue ----------------------------------------------------19] Full-page woodcut illustration, most probably by Lucas Cranach the Younger, from the Luther bible, printed in by Hans Lufft, Wittenberg , 1543. Double mount, protected by glassine See: Albert Schramm: Die Illustration der Lutherbibel. -----------------------------------------------The German bibles before Luther: Description Mentelin-Bibel Eggestein-Bibel year 1466 vor 1470 Zainer-Bibel 1475 Pflanzmann-Bibel 1475 Sensenschmidt-Bibel 1476–78 Zainer-Bibel 1477 Sorg-Bibel 1477 Kölner Bibeln 1478/79 Place Printer/Illustrator Straßburg Johannes Mentelin Straßburg Heinrich Eggestein Rank 1. 2. Augsburg Augsburg Nürnberg Augsburg Augsburg Köln 3./4. 4./3. 5. 6. 7. Niederrheinisch Kölner Bibeln 1478/79 Köln Sorg-Bibel Koberger-Bibel Grüninger-Bibel Schönsperger-Bibel Schönsperger-Bibel 1480 1483 1485 1487 1490 Augsburg Nürnberg Straßburg Augsburg Augsburg Günther Zainer Jodocus Pflanzmann Andreas Frisner, Johann Sensenschmidt Günther Zainer Anton Sorg Heinrich Quentell oder Bartholomäus von Unckell Heinrich Quentell oder Bartholomäus von Unckell Anton Sorg Anton Koberger Johann Grüninger Johann Schönsperger d. Ä. Johann Schönsperger d. Ä. Niedersächsisch 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Lübecker Bibel (1494) Otmar-Bibel Otmar-Bibel Halberstädter Bibel 1494 Lübeck Steffen Arndes/Meister der Lübecker Bibel 1507 1518 1522 Augsburg Johann Otmar Augsburg Silvan Otmar Halberstadt Lorenz Stuchs Niedersächsisch 13. 14. Niedersächsisch Note: To show the quality difference of the translations between the pre-Lutheran and Luther’s bibles within only 27 years: Otmar 1507 In der zeit gieng judas ab von sinen brüdern und keret ein zu aim man odolamiten mit namen hyram Unnd sahe da ain tochter ains menschen chananei mit name sue Unnd do er sy hett genomen zu ainem weibe. er gieng ein zu ir sy empfieng un gebar ainen sune. un er hieß seinen namen her. Anderwayd empfieng sy ain frucht. do der sune ward geboren. er nante ihn onan. Unnd sy gebar den dritte den nennet er sela. Do der was geboren sy höret auf fürbas zu geberen Aber indas gab der her seynem erstgebornen sun ain weyb mit namen thamar. Un her der erstgeboren jude was ain schalck in dem angesichte des herzen. Darumb ward er erschlagen von im. Luther 1534 Es begab sich umb die selben zeit / das Juda hinab zog von seinen brüdern / und thet sich zu einem man Odollam / der hies Hira / Und Juda sahe daselbs eines Cananiters mans tochter der hies Sua / und nam sie. Und da er sie beschlieff / ward sie schwanger und gebar einen son / den hieß er / Jer. Und sie ward aber schwanger / und gebar einen son / den hieß sie Onan. Sie fur fort / und gebar einen son / den hies sie Sela. Und er war zu Chesib, da sie in gebar. Und Juda gab seinem ersten Sohn / Jer / ein weib / die hieß Thamar. / Aber er war böse fue dem HERRN / darumb tödtet in der HERR