• CALIXTUS III, BULLA THURCORUM [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg, late 1456]

Collections:
  • Incunabula at Princeton
  • In Principio
  • Historical Beginnings
  • Collections Donated to Princeton University Library
  • The Scheide Library
  • Treasures of Rare Book Division
Curatorial Note:
  • In April 1455 the aged Cardinal Alfonso de Borgia was elected pope in succession to Nicholas V, taking the name Calixtus III. He swore to defend Christianity against the Ottomans, and the three years of his pontificate were occupied with the frustrating task of trying to corral the many, inter-quarreling Christian secular rulers into an effective campaign. His June 1456 Bull called for Christian unity by means of prayers to be said daily, at the mid-day ringing of the church bells. The Archbishop of Mainz issued a mandate in late October 1456 allowing proclamation of the Bull in the archdiocese, and this uniquely surviving Latin edition was probably printed soon afterward for the purpose. A German translation was printed concurrently, surviving in a single copy in Berlin. The provenance of both copies can be traced back to Erfurt.
Bookseller:
  • Maggs Bros
Author:
  • Catholic Church. Pope (1455-1458 : Callistus III).
Provenance:
  • Provenance: acquired May, 1939.
Abstract:
  • Calixtus III issued this bull to institute special prayers to be said by Christians at a time of Turkish encroachments in the Balkans. It was part of the campaign of Calixtus to organize Europe into a crusade against the Turks, who had captured Constantinople in May 1453, and continued to advance into Europe. A copy of the Bull reached Mainz and was printed by Johann Gutenberg; only the present copy in the Scheide Library survives. A German translation was also printed by Gutenberg. It too survives in only one copy, in the Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin. Although no surviving example of early European printing is signed by Johann Gutenberg, early evidences and reports converge to show that he was the inventor of European typography. In particular, the “DK” (Donatus and Kalendar) type appears to be his first printing type. It was used in part to print the 31-line Cyprus Indulgence, of which the earliest datable copy, executed in Erfurt on 22 October 1454, is in the Scheide Library: this is the first fixed date at which we know that printing was being carried out in Mainz. Several other DK-type fragments, such as the Sibyllenbuch partial leaf at the Gutenberg Museum, Mainz, show a much less finished state of the font, and are plausibly earlier than 1454. In the late 1450s, the DK type was apparently sold to Bamberg, where it was used to print the 36-line Bible (not after 1461), and other books, some of which are signed by Albrecht Pfister.
Creator:
  • Catholic Church. Pope (1455-1458 : Callistus III).
Language:
  • Latin
Call number:
  • 31.14
Extent:
  • 12 leaves ; 20 x 14.6 cm (quarto).
Format:
  • Book
Type:
  • Early works to 1800
Description:
  • 19 lines. Type: 164G.
  • Bulla 29 June 1456 "Cum his superioribus annis impius nominis Christiani persecutor Turcorum tyrannis".
Publisher:
  • [Mainz : Johann Gutenberg (Donatus and Kalendar type), 1456].
Subject:
  • Bulls, Papal—Early works to 1800
Title sort:
  • Bulla Turcorum.
Alternative:
  • Calixtus bull.
  • Callistus bull.
  • Türkenbulle.
References:
  • GW 0591610N.
  • Goff C-60.
Contributor:
  • Callistus III, Pope, 1378-1458
Printer:
  • Gutenberg, Johann, 1397?-1468
Created:
  • 1456-01-01T00:00:00Z
Date:
  • 1456
Identifier:
  • ark:/88435/0v8380652
Location:
  • WHS 31.14
Edm rights:
  • No Known Copyright
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