1 Leaf 1480 Incunabula Latin Medieval Bible Handpainted Red Ink by Rubricator

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Well, I must say that I have NEVER seen this before! Notice that in the instances of the large initial letter "e" the red ink was so thick, that in the 533 years since the rubricator put it on this leaf , it has cracked (see the 1st and 2nd scanned images). 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 canrefer 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 about 8 1/4 in. x 11 1/4 in. The heading in Latin is " ZACHARIE ," which means " The Book of Zachariah." This leaf has four (4) large handwritten initial letters in red ink (see the scanned images). The text contains the Book of Lamentations , chapters 1-2. NOTICE one very unusual thing about th is leaf, Jerome in translating the Hebrew text into Latin, also translated the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, for sections of this book in alphabetical order; very interesting. You can examine the Latin text and an English translation on the internet. 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, there are nine (9) instances of this sacred abbreviation (Zachariah, chapter 7). The winner of the auction will receive the original leaf from the 1480 Latin Bible, as well as a xerox copy of the Latin text, with each of these marked ( see the last scanned image ), with the marks ma de by someone who has a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies . 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 ap... read more

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