BAUMAN RARE BOOKS 46 66(BIBLE). Biblia integra… Basel, 1491. Thick octavo, early full elaborately blind-tooled white pigskin, metal clasps and catches. $25,000 The first Bible to be printed in octavo format, the so-called “Poor Man’s Bible,” and the first publication of the important Basel printer Johann Froben, in a handsome early elaborately blind-tooled binding. Johann Froben first trained in Nuremberg with the printer Anton Koberger before moving to Basel in the 1480s to attend the university there. He began printing in about 1491—this Bible is likely the first production of his press—and quickly became an important European publisher. This 1491 Bible is the first Bible ever to be printed in the octavo format. Previously, Bibles had only been printed as folios; their high price and large size essentially limited them to ecclesiastical and institutional use and only the wealthiest households. The smaller octavo format made the Bible more affordable and transportable, available for the first time to much larger public, a necessary precondition for the spread of the Reformation in the decades to follow. “The earliest edition in octavo was printed by Johannes Froben de Hammelburg: Basilae, 27 June 1491… This edition from its small size is known as the first ‘poor man’s Bible’” (Darlow & Moule 6086). Goff B-592. Extensive early annotations to title page and text, some of which have been trimmed. Occasional mild marginal dampstaining, interior otherwise quite clean; handsome early binding with some soiling and a few spots of wear, one clasp catch ineffective. A rare and important early printing of the Bible. The Celebrated “Poor Man’s Bible,” The First Bible Printed In The Octavo Format
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