In quest of the perfect book

by William Dana Orcutt

And here is the end of the first part of the Bible, that is to say, the Old Testament, rubricated and bound for Henry Cremer, in the year of our Loard, one thousand four hundred and fifty-six, on the feast of the Apostle Bartholomew

Thanks be to God. Alleluia

Rubricator’s Mark at End of First Volume of a Defective Copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

GUTENBERG BIBLE

This book was illuminated, bound, and completed for Henry Cremer, Vicar of Saint Stephens, of Mayence, in the year of our Lord, one thousand four hundred and fifty-six, on the feast of the Ascension of the Glorious Virgin Mary. Thanks be to God. Alleluia.

Rubricator’s Mark at End of Second Volume of a Defective Copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

The copy I love best to pore over is that bound in four volumes of red morocco, stamped with the arms of Louis XVI, in the Bibliothèque Nationale. This perhaps is not so historical as the one De Bure discovered in the library of Cardinal Mazarin in Paris in 1763,—three hundred years after it was printed, and until then unknown; but the dignity of those beautifully printed types on the smooth, ivory surface of the vellum possesses a magnificence beyond that of any other copy I have seen. Also at the Bibliothèque Nationale is a defective paper copy in two volumes in which appear rubricator’s notes marking the completion of the work as August 15, 1456. Think how important this is in placing this marvel of typography; for the project of printing the Bible could not have been undertaken earlier than August, 1451, when Gutenberg formed his partnership with Fust and Schoeffer in Mayence.

GUTENBERG, FUST, COSTER, ALDUS, FROBEN