The following descriptions draw on a variety of sources, including information provided by the vendors, commentaries included with the works, the facsimiles themselves, Worldcat, and the Oxford Companion to the Book.
Der Lorscher Rotulus : Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt a. Main, Ms. Barth. 179. Graz (Austria): Akademische Druck-und Verlagsanstalt. 2004
Full-colour facsimile of a 9th-century scroll containing a litany for use at Lorsh. The commentary in German (2004) was edited by Johannes Fried, with contributions by Katharina Bierbrauer and others. Issued in a box; the scroll is attached to two wooden roller. The text is in Latin in Carolingian minuscule. Roll on parchment: 257 × 23.5 cm. Silver and gold ink used in the lettering, with decorative braided border. This is no. 333 of 980 numbered and 50 unnumbered copies.
The only liturgical book roll to reach us from the Carolingian period, the Lorsch Rotulus is now preserved at the City and University Library of Frankfurt. The original manuscript was made during the 3rd quarter of the 9th century in the scriptorium of Lorsch. Its place of origin is indicated by the style of the colourful interlaced decorations that fill the borders and also by the in pride of place within the Litany given to Nazariaus, the patron saint of Lorsch. The front side of the scroll consists of a long sequence of 534 Saints names in three columns, some of which are highlighted in gold and silver letters. Texts on the reverse side of the Rotulus were added in the 11th century. These are a votive mass for a feverish person, mass orations, a list of treasures and books from the Salvatorstift in Frankfurt and an Officium Stellae (the liturgical representation of the visit by the Magi to the infant Jesus on the feast of the Epiphany).
Codice de Metz. Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid 3.307 : una compilación medieval de cómputo y astronomía. Madrid: Biblioteca Nacional : Testimonio, 1994.
152 pages / 31.5 × 25.0 cm. The text is in Latin on parchment. The hand is early Carolingian miniscule with headings in Rustic Capitals or Uncial often in red or in green. Bound in brown goatskin with dry embossing on both sides. Bronze (plastic) fittings with motifs inspired by the original. Commentary in Spanish. Facsimile No. 219 of 980.
The Metz Codex is a miscellany of texts on astronomy, with a focus on computus—the calculation of the movement of astronomical bodies and the dates of movable Christian holy days each year. The manual was created in Metz in the 820s for Drogo (801-855), Bishop of Metz, perhaps upon his elevation to the bishopric in 828. Drogo was the son of Charlemagne. It is a deluxe manuscript with forty-two illusionistic paintings of the highest quality depicting the people, animals, and objects that gave their names to the constellations. These Symbolic figures of the constellations draw on manuscripts from late-antiquity. The text of the Metz Codex comes from the “Handbook of 809-812,” of which numerous copies were made in the early ninth century. Although only four of the handbook’s seven books are preserved in the Metz Codex, the manuscript nevertheless provides the best textual record of the handbook.
L’unique manuscrit d’Ibn al-Bawwab à la Chester Beatty Library. D. S. Rice (Commentator for written text), Jacqueline Bernard (Translator), ʻAlī ibn Hilāl Ibn al-Bawwāb (Calligrapher). Facsimile edition. Paris: Club du livre, 1972.
Qur’an of Ibn al-Bawwab. Chester Beattie MS: K 16. 183 mm x 145 mm x 58 mm (height x width x depth). Codex, ink, colours and gold on paper, 282 folios, Arabic text in cursive script 15 lines per page (identified as naskh or rayhan), with illuminated double-pages (ff. 6v-8r, 284v-5r), sura-headings and verse markers throughout, complete Qur’an, colophon (f. 284r) signed `Ali ibn Hilal (known as Ibn al-Bawwab) and dated Baghdad, Iraq, 391/1000-1001. Commentary in French, English and Arabic. Facsimile edition.
The Ibn al-Bawwab Qur’an was produced in Baghdad in the year 1000. Its smooth cursive calligraphy is the work of Abu’l Hasan `Ali ibn Hilal (d. 1022), more commonly known as Ibn al-Bawwab (meaning “son of the doorkeeper”). Ibn al-Bawwab is renowned as one of Islam’s greatest master-calligraphers, and this manuscript is held to be the only Qur’an genuinely written in his hand. It is also important for being one of the earliest dated Qur’ans copied on paper (as opposed to parchment) and one of the earliest written in a cursive script. The original is located at Chester Beatty Library, Dublin.
The Parma Psalter: a thirteenth-century illuminated Hebrew book of Psalms with a commentary by Abraham Ibn Ezra. London: Facsimile Editions, 1996.
The Parma Psalter. Ms. Parm.1870 (Cod. De Rossi 510). 226 folios (452 pages) of vegetable parchment, 13.5cm x 10 cm (5.33″ x 4.0″), written in clear, large vocalized Hebrew. The commentary by Abraham Ibn Ezra (b. 1089) is in small cursive script. This illuminated book of Psalms was written ca.1280, probably in Emilia in Northern Italy. The psalms are in 23 quires with one 16-page quire, added at a later date, containing the ceremonies for engagements, marriages, circumcisions and funerals. The pages are an elegant balance of Psalms and commentary, often with elaborate images in the margins, some of which reflect on the accompanying Psalm. Gold is used throughout. The facsimile was printed by offset lithography on vegan or vegetable parchment. Commentary in English.
The Parma Psalter was first documented in the collection of Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi (1742-1831), a Christian Hebraist. The original manuscript is now housed in the Palatina Library in Parma, Italy, which also holds a significant number of Hebrew Manuscripts.
El Decamerón. [Valencia, Spain], [Paris]: Scriptorium, S.L.; Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 2009.
Boccaccio’s Decameron. MS 5070 Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal. 40 × 28.5 cm . 395 fols. in 51 gatherings or quires. The manuscript was translated into French between 1411and 1414 by Laurent de Premierfait from a Latin translation of the original Florentine. This manuscript (MS 5070) was written in bâtarde cursive by copyist Guillebert de Mets between1435-1439. It was probably commissioned by one of the abbots of Saint-Adrien de Grammont to be given to Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgandy on the occasion of his visit to the abbey in 1441. The decoration combines the work of two different workshops. Marginal decoration are found only on pages illustrated with a miniature (100 in total) which mark the beginning of each tale. The miniatures, were copied or traced from a 1414 manuscript of the Decameron made for John the Fearless, and now housed at the Vatican Library (Palatinus Latinus 1989). The binding (probably 18th century) bears the Count d’Argenson’s arms and a border of three gold fillets. This facsimile is number 350 of 390. Commentary in Spanish and English.
The Decameron is a collection of short stories by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book contains 100 tales ranging from the erotic to the tragic as told by a group men and women sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence in order to escape the Black Death. Boccaccio probably conceived of the Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353.
Das Stundenbuch der Katerina von Kleve. Gutersloh/Munchen, Faksimile Verlag, 2009.
Hours of Catherine of Cleves MS M.917/945(192 × 130 mm). 714 pages on parchment. The binding is an illustrated reproduction of a post-1480 binding from Utrecht: embossed brown leather, two gilt book clasps on fine gold chains, and a red gemstone on the front cover. Facsimile No. 480 of 980 copies. Commentary volume in German.
This lavish book of hours in Latin (ca. 1430) was probably made for Catherine of Cleves (1417–1479). The 157 full miniatures, half-miniatures and numerous border decorations were created by an unknown artist, referenced as the Master of Catherine of Cleves. The visual representations, including a depiction of the gates of hell, realistic depiction of ordinary life at the time (a tavern scene, a bakery), as well as rich border decorations (mussels, fruit, birds, fish, and more) are said to have influenced Bruegel and other artists associated with the great achievements of Netherlandish art. The book had a turbulent history. Appearing on the market after almost 400 years in private hands, it was divided, the pages shuffled, before being sold as two separate books. Both parts were purchased by New York’s Pierpont Morgan Library in 1963 and subsequently reunited. This Zieris facsimile edition shows us the book as it would have been when it was in the possession of its original owner, Catherine of Cleves.
Johannes Gutenberg la biblia de 42 lineas comentario al facsimil el eEjemplar en Burgos. Inc. 66 Biblioteca Pública del Estado (Burgos, Spain). 2 volumes – 1,254 pages / 41.0 × 31.0 cm. Paper. Valencia: Vicent Garcia Editores, 1995. Limited Edition: This is no. 87 of 1380 copies
Between 1452 and 1454 Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400–1468) printed either 158 or 180 copies of the now famous Bible in his Mainz workshop. The work is referred to as the 42-Line Bible since every page of text contains 42 lines. The handwritten template for the printed Bible was the so-called Vulgate, a 4th century translation by St. Jerome of the books of the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament. Spaces were left in the text for rubrication and for the addition of capital letters. Spacious margins allowed for the addition of border decorations. The illustrators of this copy inserted colourful elaborate floral illustrations in the borders with realistic plant tendrils around the text. From the original print run, only 49 copies of the 42-Line Bible survive, with only twenty of these complete. The copy used as exemplar for this facsimile can be found in the Biblioteca Pública del Estado (State Library) in the Spanish city of Burgos.
Schatzbibel des Mittelalters. Reproduktion und Kommentarband : Limitiert Nr. M 103/499. R, Rimini, Imago: CommentaryMedia Exklusiv GmbH, 2019. 363/499 copies. 96 pages / 18.6 × 14.9 cm. Manuscript (Gothic Textura Semiquadrata Littera bastarda) on parchment.
The Picture Bible of Manchester is a Gothic picture Bible originating from Northern France in the first half of the 13th century. It contains 48 full-page miniatures, each depicting a single scene from the first two books of the Old Testament (Genesis and Exodus). It is possible that the manuscript is a fragment or was unfinished. It is a true picture Bible consisting purely of full-page miniatures decorated with bright pigments and brilliantly burnished gold leaf backgrounds. The short captions in French that were added sometime later. Produced sometime between 1200 and 1250, it is regarded as a fine specimen of the Gothic style from the so-called Channel school in Northern France. The manuscript’s format and content indicates that it was most likely intended for personal use. The original manuscript is stored in the University of Manchester’s John Rylands Library
Biblia Pauperum (Golden Bible) Kings MS 5British Library (London, United Kingdom). Commentary by Janet Backhouse; James H Marrow and Gerhard Schmidt. Faksimile Verlag Luzern, 1994. 70 pages / 17.9 × 38.4 cm in Gothic script with 93 miniatures, richly coloured and gilded with gold and silver, preserved (out of at least 99 originally. The binding is in red Morocco with gilt decoration. The work (ca. 1395–1405) is attributed to the Master of the Hours of Margaret of Cleves. It was commissioned for Albert I, Duke of Bavaria (1336–1404), or his second wife Margaret of Cleves (ca. 1375–1411).
A Biblia Pauperum (so-called pauper’s Bible) is a work that consists mainly of illustrations of scenes from the Bible. The form first appeared in the middle of the 13th century and probably originated in Austria or Bavaria. The title, given in a later age, is a misinterpretation of the purpose of the work, which was not primarily intended for teaching the contents of the Bible to those who could not read; rather it delivered a complicated theological message to those who would recognize the biblical scenes. This is the typological notion that events described in the Old Testament (‘Types’) prefigure the events described in the Gospels (‘Antitypes’). On each page a central image of the life of Christ is flanked by two prefiguring images from the Old Testament. The sequence follows the life of Christ, in some versions extended with the life of the Virgin, and the Last Judgement.
Der Ulmer Aesop von 1476/1477. Commentary by Peter Amelung. Ludwigsberg: Edition Libri Illustri Verlags-GmbH, 1995. 550 pages / 30.5 × 22.5 cm with 191 coloured woodcut illustrations. Print work on paper. Commentary in German. This facsimile is number 539 of 800.
The so-called Ulm Aesop was published around 1476 by the Ulm humanist and translator Heinrich Steinhöwel (1412–1482/3). Printed by Johann Zainer (d.1523) in Latin and German, the work is one of the most important editions of Aesop’s ancient fables. Printing the ancient work in German made the fables more widely comprehensible. With its more than 190 coloured woodcuts by Ulm Minster, Jörg Syrlin the Elder (1425-1491), it was stylistically influential for subsequent editions and other works. This edition assembled all of the known fables at that time together with a biography of Aesop. Additionally, Steinhöwel attached a few tales by Poccio Bracciolini (b.1380-1459), a famous Italian Renaissance humanist. The original of this historically important codex is now kept in the Otto Schäfer Museum in Schweinfurt.
The Bible with the Apocrypha: King James Version. London, Folio Society, 2011. 2 v. in slipcase (xxxvi, 1868 pages); 28 cm. This facsimile is no. 107 or 1000. Both volumes and fully bound in pale blue goatskin leather with upper covers and spines lettered in gilt. 400th anniversary issue.
At the beginning of the 17th century, two English versions of the Bible were current: the official Bishops’ Bible, first published in 1568 and the Geneva Bible, first published in 1560. A revised translation of the Scriptures was proposed at a conference convened by James I in 1604. Fifty-four scholars were chosen; the 47 actual participants formed six subcommittees. Each group was assigned certain books of the Bible; their first drafts were sent to the other groups for criticism, and a final text was edited by a revision committee, convened at Stationers’ Hall. Their task was to revise the Bishops’ Bible (itself heavily dependent on Tyndale’s version) in the light of the original Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. The final text was published in 1611 by R. Barker, the King’s Printer. The Authorized Version was never formally authorized by king, Church, or Parliament; it nevertheless immediately superseded the Bishops’ Bible in public worship. It has been described as a masterpiece of classical English prose, giving us many memorable expressions: ‘labour of love’, ‘sign of the times’, ‘bite the dust’, ‘land of milk and honey’, ‘fly in the ointment’, and many others.
Die Luther-Bibel von 1534 aus der Werkstatt von Lucas Cranach = The Luther Bible of 1534. Taschen, Köln, 2002. 1674 pages / 31.5 × 21.0 cm. Bound in two volumes in brown leather with gilt lettering. This is facsimile number 91 of 500.
The Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) began to translate the New Testament from Erasmus’ Greek version in 1521. He finished the task in eleven weeks. In September 1522, Lotter printed the result (Das Newe Testament Deutzsch), later known as the September Bible. Luther then started work on the Old Testament. In 1523–1524 three volumes appeared, comprising the canon up to the Song of Songs; the Prophets remained a work in progress until 1532, and the apocryphal books, translated jointly with Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) and others, were included only in the complete Bible of 1534, printed by Lufft (1495-1584). There are only 60 surviving copies of the 1534 printed edition of Luther’s vernacular German Bible. The exemplar used for this facsimile is housed in the. Its 128 woodcuts, including a title page by Lucas Cranach the Elder, were coloured shortly after they were printed with opaque blue, green, and red paints. Gold leaf was also used to illuminate some of the woodcuts.
Zerbster Prunkbibel: “Cranachbibel”: die Apokalypse. Edition Leipzig, Leipzig, 2008. Pages cccxciiii-ccccx, xxii pages: color facsimiles; 39 cm. With commentary in English and German. This facsimile is number 116 of 800.
The biblical text of the Apocalypse is taken from Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible. The text for this edition is taken from Luther’s revised 1541 edition and is illustrated by Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515-1586) with 26 coloured and gilt woodcuts, with each of the images framed in gold. There are decorated capitals throughout. The work was printed in 1541 in Wittenberg in the workshop of the famous Bible printer Hans Lufft (1495–1584). Lucas Cranach the Younger was a German Renaissance painter and portraitist, the son Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553), painter and engraver, and brother of Hans Cranach (1513-1537), also a painter.
Codex Sinaiticus. Hendrickson Publishers Marketing; British Library, Peabody, Mass., London, ©2010. 1 volume: facsimile; 43 cm + 1 reference guide in English (31 pages; 28 cm)
Codex Sinaiticus (the Sinai Book), a manuscript of the Christian Bible written in the middle of the fourth century, contains the earliest complete copy of the New Testament. The hand-written text is in Greek. The New Testament appears in the original vernacular language (koine) and the Old Testament in the version known as the Septuagint (earliest extant Greek translation from the original Hebrew) that was adopted by early Greek-speaking Christians. The text, written by three or four scribes, was heavily annotated by a series of early collectors. The significance of Codex Sinaiticus for the reconstruction of the Christian Bible’s original text, the history of the Bible, and the history of Western book-making is immense. The surviving parts of the original manuscript, written on parchment, are now held by four libraries. This facsimile is based on digital facsimiles. The resulting pages are 5% smaller than the original.
The Dog's Tooth 