 Several rare and
unique Bibles preserved in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives will be on
display during Holy Week. The sacred texts may be viewed in the Rev. Francis Paul Prucha Archives
Reading Room (Raynor, 3rd floor), 8:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m., Monday-Thursday.
Featured items include:
Biblia Sacra Latina (Venice: Renner of Heilbrunn, 1482)
The earliest edition of the Bible preserved by the Department of Special Collections is a 1482
two-volume edition of the Old Testament. Printed by Renner of Heilbrunn, in Venice, the
Old Testament is printed in Latin within a central text block, with Nicholas de Lyra's (ca.
1270-1349) explanations surrounding the main text. It is the first printed explanation of
the Bible. The original plain wooden boards are worm-eaten and show evidence of having
been chained to a press.
The Bible, that is, The Holy Scriptures conteined in the Olde and Newe Testament...
(London: Deputies of Christopher Barker, 1599)
The earliest edition of the Bible printed in English owned by Marquette University Libraries is
this 1599 edition, with text printed in double columns.
An Tiomna Nuadh : d´tiġearna agus an Slanuiġeóra Iosa Criosd (London: W.
Clowes, 1827)
Printed for the British and Foreign Bible Society, this edition of the New Testament is printed
in Irish script, with an pronunciation guide and Irish-English alphabet. The portable-size
volume probably migrated to the United States with a mid-19th century Irish immigrant.
The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (Chicago: D.B. Hansen &
Sons, ca. 1942)
An edition of the New Testament owned by Dorothy Day. It is signed and annotated by Day,
with numerous verses underlined.
The Lorsch Gospels (New York, G. Braziller, 1967)
This facsimile edition comprises the two parts of the Lorsch Gospels from the Biblioteca Documentara
Batthyaneum in Alba Julia, Rumania, and the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana in Rome.
Founded in 764 near Worms, the Abbey of Lorsch was among the wealthiest of Carolingian Imperial
monasteries. The Abbey's oldest library catalogue, compiled about 830 - contains the first reference
to the Gospels which are now believed to have been written and illuminated about 810.
The text is written throughout in two columns and set in richly decorated coloured borders.
Each two page spread has a distinct design, and many of the decorative motifs have been adapted
from other crafts: goldsmiths, silk-weaving and ivory-carving. |
