1480 Incunabula Latin Medieval Bible Handpainted Leaf

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First of all, this leaf has two (2) large handwritten initial letters in red ink. This is clearly one of the most beautiful leaves of the 1480 Vulgate Latin Bible. A very large leaf in Black Letter (Gothic) type from a Latin Vulgate Bible published in Cologne in 1480 by the printer, Nicolaus Gotz or Goetz. This is just twenty-five years after Gutenberg's 1st Bible of 1455! By definition, an incunabulum (the singular of "incunabula") or "incunable" (French) or "inkunabel" (German) must be printed from 1455 to 1500. However, those books printed in the later 1480s and the 1490s, as well as the year 1500 (which is technically the last year of the 15th century), had more and more woodcut printed initials. InLatin, the term "incunabula" means "baby clothes" or "things of the cradle," and can refer to the earliest stages or first traces in the development of anything. This leaf has red rubrication marks all added by a scribe's own hand, and there are scores of red marks through the first letter of each verse, as well as the title listed at the top of each side of the leaf. The red color is strong and fresh-looking, on both sides of the leaf. Size of the sheet is 8 1/4 in. x 11 1/4 in. The text block area is 1/4 in. x 8 1/4 in. This leaf has two (2) large red initial letters (see the scanned images). The heading in Latin is "EZECHIELIS," which means "The Book of Ezekiel." This leaf has two (2) instances of "Cherubim" at Ezekiel 41:20 and 25. The text contains the Book of Ezekiel, chapters 40-42; and you can examine the Latin text and an English translation at "." There are many memorable passages in the text. We need to put into context the work of Christian scribes during the last 2,000 years. During these centuries scribes developed two kinds of abbreviations in the manuscripts that were copied and re-copied. The first kind of abbreviation was the shortening or abbreviation of very common words, so that it was easier and quicker to write such words. These do not concern us here. The second kind of abbreviation was for the words held sacred by Christians. In the Latin tradition, and especially in Jerome's Latin Vulgate text, these were called "Nomina Sacra" meaning "Holy Names." The common example of Nomina Sacra are Lord, God, Jesus, Christ, Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son. This leaf has the Nomina Sacra or Holy Name for the word "JAHWEH" or the "LORD" as it is given in the King James Version. It appears in the abbreviated form "dns" or "dni" (with a long line above the "n" to indicate the sacred abbreviation). Just looking at one chapter, t his leaf has one (1) instance of this sacred abbreviation, at the Book of Ezekiel 41:22. The winner of the auction will receive the original leaf from the 1483 Latin Bible, as well as a photocopy of the Latin text, with each of these marked. This is an absolutely amazing leaf of an incunabula Bible . Bibliographic description in Frederick R. Goff, "Incunabula in American Libraries," as # B569. provenance: Formerly in the Copinger Collection of the General Theological Library of New York, having been donated by Dean Hoffman and Cornelius Vanberbilt, and then in the private library of book collector, Robert R. Dearden, of Oaklane in Philadelphia. The sheet of paper is in very good condition, but does show some light browning discoloration, especially around the edges, due to its age and use over the centuries. A very impressive and extraordinary early incunabula leaf. Nicolaus Gotz or Goetz of Sletzstat (who died in 1481, just a year after this Bible was printed) was a famous printer in Cologne and a contemporary of Ulrich Zell. CIBN (Bibliotheque Nationale) suggests that this Bible may have been printed by Nicolaus Gotz's successor, owing to the appearance of a later M letterform. According to the Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke, however, the Bible appears to be Gotz's penultimate work. This is an original 15th century printed Bible page, not a reproduction. Authenticity is 100% guaranteed. The following is from W... read more

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