Oak Knoll

Commentary portion only. In near fine condition. The first two volumes (lacking here) are a life-size facsimile of the original kept at the Mazarine Library. These two volumes are the companion volumes that give a short history of the Bible, as well as a Latin-to-English translation.

The Gutenberg Bible or Latin Bible with forty-two lines (B42) is the first book printed in Europe using movable type. Comparable techniques existed in Korea and China, but Gutenberg's Bible represents a qualitative leap forward, an improvement that many attribute to a third, exterior and new look, which would have notably made it possible to redo the typography. The text pages have been printed by lithography in red, blue and black.

This facsimile is reproduced from the Bibliothéque Mazarine copy. The book may have been purchased by his librarian Naudé during one of his trips to Germany (c.1652). Mazarin's library was pillaged during the Fronde and his books were sold. Jourbert, parliamentarian and bibliophile, purchased this copy and later returned it to the Cardinal. Cardinal Mazarin bequeathed his library to the College of Four Nations which he himself had founded. It was this copy that was described by the antique enthusiast De Bure in his Bibliographie instructive (1763) as the first book every printed: "Pure chance has led us to the discovery of this most previous edition of the Bible which we announce to the public under this title; we shall not waste a single moment in giving it the first place, not only over all Bibles, but over all books."