• BIBLE, LATIN. [Bamberg: Albrecht Pfister, not after 1461]. Vellum fragment

Collections:
  • Incunabula at Princeton
  • In Principio
  • Germany grouping
  • Collections Donated to Princeton University Library
  • The Scheide Library
  • Treasures of Rare Book Division
Curatorial Note:
  • This Bible of 36 lines per column was printed with a recasting of Gutenberg’s DK font, and was set from a copy of the 42-line Gutenberg Bible. It is considered the third edition of the Bible, datable by one rubricator’s subscription to no later than 1461. Several of the fifteen surviving copies trace their roots to Bamberg, where Albrecht Pfister utilized the same types as early as February 1461. This incomplete copy is the only one held in America. When it came to light in Würzburg’s “Schottenkloster” in the 18th century, the original binding (now lost) bore an inscription recording the Bible’s donation in 1468 to the Benedictines of Kloster Aurach by Prince-Bishop Georg I von Schaumberg, whom Pfister had served as episcopal secretary in Bamberg. All surviving 36-line Bibles were printed on paper, but fragments in bookbindings attest to several otherwise lost vellum copies. The exhibited vellum fragment (Psalm 10), bought by John Scheide in 1934, lacked historical context until 2016, when an investigation led by Princeton University determined that 88 fragments from the same copy survive, all used during the 1680s to bind up documents at Bad Wildungen (Hesse) and other German archives.
Uniform title:
  • Bible. Latin. Vulgate. 1461
Provenance:
  • WHS copy formerly owned by Scottish Benedictines, Würzburg; George John, 2nd Earl Spencer; Charles Jenkinson, 3rd Earl of Liverpool.
  • WHS fragment no. 3 formerly owned by Estelle Doheny.
Former owner:
  • Doheny, Estelle, 1875-1958
  • Spencer, George John Spencer, Earl, 1758-1834
  • Liverpool, Charles Cecil Cope Jenkinson, Earl of, 1784-1851
  • Schottenkloster (Würzburg, Germany)
Language:
  • Latin
Call number:
  • 114.1
  • 114.2
  • 114.3
  • 47.1
  • Electronic Resource
Extent:
  • 884 leaves ; 39.6 x 28.1 cm (folio)
Format:
  • Book
Description:
  • Commonly known in English as the 36-line Bible.
  • WHS copy is incomplete, consisting of 480 leaves, lacking portion now forming part of John Rylands Library set, and lacking leaves 89/5/6 (blanks canceled by first or subsequent binder). Besides this copy, WHS has 3 fragments described in following notes.
  • WHS fragment no. 1 is strip of 9 lines of leaf (7 x 22.2 cm.) containing parts of Ps. X,1-5; XI,8-9; XIII, 3-5; XV, 3-5.
  • WHS fragment no. 2 is fragment of vellum leaf (38.2 x 18.6 cm.), vol. II fo. 366, containing text of II Corinthians XII,5-21 and XIII,1-2.
  • WHS fragment no. 3 is portion of paper leaf (32.8 x 19.5 cm.), vol. II, fo. 49, containing text of end of Ecclesiasticus 24, and chapters 25-26 complete.
Publisher:
  • [Bamberg : Albrecht Pfister, not after 1461].
Title sort:
  • Bible, Latin.
Alternative:
  • 36-line Bible
Binding note:
  • WHS copy has binder's ticket: "Bound by C. Hering, 10 St. Martin's Street."
References:
  • Goff B-527.
  • HC 3032.
  • DeRicci (M) 23.
  • BMC I 16 (IC.64).
  • GW 4202.
Printer:
  • Pfister, Albrecht, approximately 1420-approximately 1470
Created:
  • 1461-01-01T00:00:00Z
Date:
  • 1461
Identifier:
  • ark:/88435/c247f117j
Location:
  • WHS 114.1
  • WHS 114.2
  • WHS 114.3
  • WHS 47.1
  • WHS Electronic Resource
  • ELF1 114.1
  • ELF1 114.2
  • ELF1 114.3
  • ELF1 47.1
  • ELF1 Electronic Resource
Scopenote:
  • WHS fragment no. 1
Edm rights:
  • No Known Copyright
Range label:
  • Logical
View in catalog:
Available online: