This week's picture is part of a mystery I'm trying to solve.
Can anyone read this?
It is the first page in an old Bible, printed in 1590. It has been restored. I am trying to find more information on this particular printing, ie. how many were printed, where are others. It is a beautiful object, the pages are wonderful to the touch, the illustrations elaborate and some colored with red. Just think, it was printed before the years of the plague. Boggles my mind.
Here's a detail..
anyone?
It looks like University of Colorado has a copy. http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/specialcollections/Bibliographies/Bibleslist.pdf , page 8.
Have you searched in Google Books or Google Scholar?
Posted by: Marcy/Habetrot | June 22, 2012 at 11:13 AM
Will you tell us why you're working on this mystery? Are you a descendant of Peter Schmidt?
Posted by: Marcy/Habetrot | June 22, 2012 at 11:15 AM
Wow! No clue, but it's beautiful. Are you handling it with cotton gloves so that the oil from your fingers doesn't mar the pages? Just curious.
Posted by: Manise | June 22, 2012 at 11:54 AM
It's German, and basically says:
Bible
This is the complete Holy Gospel in German.
Doctor Martin Luther.
(can't make out the meaning of the 2nd red line - something like "second new"/"after the first edition"/)
Dr. Martin Luther who...
painstakingly corrected, and with helpful summaries above each chapter,
through the Reverend Sir Peter Patient...
Includes two new important Books,
also illustrated with beautiful figures.
Apparently there's a similar one at Johns Hopkins: https://catalyst.library.jhu.edu/catalog/bib_579977
Posted by: Iris | June 22, 2012 at 04:04 PM
If I'm not mistaken, the plague went through Europe in 1347-48, and this says 1590... so well after the plague, but still an incredible piece!
Posted by: hollyk | July 01, 2012 at 09:24 AM