The Mazarine Bible.
This is so called from its having been found in the Cardinal's library. It was the first book printed with metal types, and cost $2,500.
A Book without Words.
A literary curiosity exists in England in the shape of "A Wordless Book," so called because, after the title page, it contains not a single word. It is a religious allegory devised by a religious enthusiast, and the thought is in the symbolic color of its leaves, of which two are black, two crimson, two pure white, two pure gold. The black symbolizes the unregenerate heart of man; the crimson, the blessed redemption; the white, the purity of the soul "washed in the blood of the Lamb;" the gold, the radiant joy of eternal felicity.
Wierix's Bible.
The edition of this Bible contains a plate by John Wierix, representing the feast of Dives, with Lazarus at his door. In the rich man's banqueting room there is a dwarf playing with a monkey, to contribute to the merriment of the company, according to the custom among people of rank in the sixteenth century.
Gilt Beards.
There was a French Bible printed in Paris in 1538, by Anthony Bonnemere, wherein is related "that the ashes of the golden calf which Moses caused to be burnt, and mixed with the water that was drank by the Israelites, stuck to the beards of such as had fallen down before it, by which they appeared with gilt beards, as a peculiar mark to distinguish those who had worshipped the calf." This idle story is actually interwoven with the 32d chapter of Exodus.
Printed in Gold Letters.
Bede speaks of a magnificent copy of the Gospels in letters of the purest gold, upon leaves of purple parchment.