Biblia [B-42; Gutenberg Bible]
Mainz: Johannes Gutenberg, approx. 1455.
42-line, 2-column print on parchment.
Written in Latin, the 2vl bible is an edition of the Vulgate, a 4th century translation by Hieronymus. It was printed between 1450 and 1500 in the workshop of Johannes Gutenberg and Johannes Fust.
Following few preceding prints, it was the first mayor book printed in the history of print.
Gutenberg manufactured 290 different letters, characters and ligatures based on the model of the Textura, a gothic font used to copy books, for printing.
Colourful initials, chapter numbers and categories were manually added.
About 150 bibles were printed on paper, and another 30 copies on parchment. The number of surviving copies world-wide amounts to 49, 8 of which printed on parchment.
Pages on exhibition were discovered and detached in 1819 during restoration works of the 16th century cover.
Johannes Balbus: Summa, quae vocavit catholicon
Vol. 1, Mainz, 1460.
The so called Catholicon, a Latin dictionary of the late 13th century, was widely spread in numerous manuscripts. The first print’s closing paragraph does not name the printer, it does, however, refer to the young art of printing; this book was not completed “by the aid of reed, slate-pencil or feather, but by the wonderful agreement, the equity of measure and pure forms of patricians and letters”. Johannes Gutenberg may have been involved in the printing process.
Apocalypsis Sancti Johannis. Sheet 48 (50).
Xylographic print, approx. 1460.
This book, with only a few sheets surviving, contained the apocalyptic visions of John, mixed with scenes of his life.
The exhibited sheet shows Saint John on top, who, on behalf of Roman Emperor Domitianus sitting on the left (51-96 AC), drinks from the poisoned bowl. The lower part depicts John’s death and his soul’s admission into heaven.
Illustrations and texts were carved in wood and transmitted onto paper using friction print. Illustrations were coloured afterwards.
Block books were developed in 15th century Europe independent of the printing press, and used parallel for a while. Woodblock printing was already used in 7th century China to produce books.
Fuchs, Leonhart: De historia stirpium commentarii …
Print with coloured woodcuts.
Illustrator: Albert Meyer, Heinrich Füllmaurer
Carver: Veit Rudolph Speckle
Physician Leonhardt Fuchs (1501-1566) was professor at the University of Tübingen from 1535 until his death. The present work on botany is one of botanical literatures’ classics. It contains 511 illustrations, which were drawn by A. Meyer and H. Füllmauerer under Fuchs’ supervision. They were then carved in wood by V.R. Speckle.
Re-printed Shui-hu-chuan, illustrated with depictions of the dutiful
Chinese woodblock print. 17th century.
Three chapters taken from a popular novel, which was first published in 1614 in Beijing.
Johan Michael Seligmann: Collection of various foreign and rare birds.
Vol. 7, Nuremberg, 1770.
The collection, which was published in eight volumes between 1749 and 1776, is especially noteworthy for Seligmann’s attempt to depict the birds in their natural surroundings.
Jacob Theodor Klein: Specimen descriptionis petrefactorum Gedanensium
Nuremberg, 1770.
The author was not only state secretary and ambassador of the Republic of Gdansk, but also a natural scientist of high scientific reputation. He developed classification aids, and thus attempted to overcome classification problems in the animal world by using formal criteria.