5. GREGORIUS I. Homiliæ XL super Evangeliis. [Augsburg, Günther Zainer.] 28 August, 1473.
Fol. 1a: Ordo .xl. omeliarum beati gregorij pape ad secundinum episcopum Thauronitarum. Fol. 1b: SEQVITVR EPISTOLA [R]Euerendissimo et sanctissimo frati secundino coepiscopo. Gregorius seruus seruorum dei. Fol. 2a: EXPLICIT EPISTOLA INCIPIT EWANGELIVM. S. LVCAM.... Omelia prima beati Gregorij pape. Fol. 141b, Colophon: Adeptus est finis ambarum parcium omeliarum beatissimi gregorii pape vrbis rome jn die sancti hermetis sub Anno domini M cccc lxxiij. Fol. 142a: Table of the homilies in the order of the liturgical year.
Folio. Quires [1-1310, 1412], 142 leaves, 33 lines to the page, gothic letter, without signatures, catchwords, pagination, place or printer's name. Two- and three-line spaces left for capitals, which are supplied in red. Paragraph-marks and initial-strokes in red. Hain *7948, Pellechet 5366. Brit. Mus. 15th cent., II, p. 319 (IB. 5457).
Gregory's Homilies, of which this is the first edition, and the three next following works bound with it, are from the press of Günther Zainer, of Reutlingen, the first printer of Augsburg. All are in the same type, the heavy-faced gothic of his second font, are rubricated by the same hand, and though two of them are undated, were all evidently printed at about the same time. He was the first printer in Germany to make use of roman type, of which the earliest example seems to have been his "Calendarium pro anno 1472." He died in 1478, ten years after the appearance of his first dated book.
The Wodhull copy, bound by Roger Payne in russia gilt. Leaf 12 × 8 1/4 in. Mem. on fly-leaf: "Payne's sale. £2.12.6, binding and restoring 17s.6d. These four pieces were taken out of old monastic binding. M. Wodhull, Jan. 5th, 1795."
6. PSALTERIUM LATINUM. [Augsburg, Günther Zainer, c. 1473.]
Fol. 1a: Prologus beati jeronimi presbiteri in psalterium quod ipse de hebraico transtulit in latinum [E]Vsebius jeronimus soffronio suo salutem. Fol. 1b: Explicit prologus beati jeronimi. Incipit psalterium Psalmos dauid primus. Fol. 51a: Canticum Ysaie capitulo lxxij (sic), followed by cantica of Hezekiah, Hannah, Moses (2), Habakkuk. Fol. 54a, Colophon: Explicit translacio soliloquiorum siue psalterij beatissimi Ieronimi eusebii presbiteri quod ad peticionem soffronij transtulit ut in epistolam ante psalterium impressa praemittitur etc.
Folio. Quires [1-510, 64], 54 leaves, 33 lines to the page, gothic letter, without signatures, catchwords, pagination, place, printer's name or date. Two- to four-line spaces left for initials, which are supplied in red. Paragraph-marks and initial-strokes in red. Hain *13470. Brit. Mus. 15th cent., II, p. 320 (IB. 5560).
Jerome's final translations of the Old Testament books direct from the Hebrew were all adopted into the received Latin version, the Vulgate, except this of the Psalms. Here his earlier revision of the old Italic version on the basis of the Septuagint had become so firmly established in liturgical use that the translation from the Hebrew, though more exact, could not displace it. This appears to be the first printed edition.