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The cover of this book is wrapped in a marbled paper. Dark brown abstract shapes flow horizontally and vertically across the tan paper surface, reminiscent of bleeding ink. The spine and top and bottom right corners are bound with aged dark brown leather.
National Gallery of Art · Volume
Biblia Pauperum (Pauper's Bible)
Netherlandish 15th Century
- Date
- 1465-1470
- Medium
- bound volume with 40 hand-colored pages printed from 20 woodblocks. The left side of each sheet (left page) was glued to the right side of the preceding sheet, and the right side of each sheet (right page) to the left side of the succeeding page.
- Dimensions
- sheet: 27.5 x 21 cm (10 13/16 x 8 1/4 in.) overall: 28.3 x 21.8 cm (11 1/8 x 8 9/16 in.)
- Classification
- Volume
- Accession number
- 2005.5.1
- Credit line
- Anonymous Gift
- Time span
- 1300 to 1400
- Department
- CG-E
Subjects and terms
- Netherlandish
- woodcut
- Bible
- Incunabula
Provenance
Benedictine Monastery at Erfurt; Ducal Library, Gotha; M. Sinelikoff, 1951; Countess Carrie Estelle Doheny, Los Angeles, California (sale, Christie's, London, Doheny Sale, 22 October 1987, no. 73); Private collection, Washington, D.C.; gift to NGA, 2005.
Inscription
front pastedown in black ink: upper center: Biblia Pauperum Latina. / no. 1 / ___auf Erfurt; ___/___ col la u'.21 6____; center: Zylogr. pag. II. no. 5. / Niederlandisch / cf. Schreiber Manuel de l'amateur de la gravure / sure bois VII tab. XIII. praef. p. VIII front free endpaper: upper center: book plate of Estelle Doheny; upper right in graphite: A116; lower right in black ink: F.I.folio 1 recto: center right: stamp of Bibliotheca Ducalis Gothanafolio 21 verso: upper center in black ink: undecipherable reference to Erfurt Benedictine Monastery; center left: stamp of Bibliotheca Ducalis Gothanaend pastedown: upper center in graphite: Sindnikoff / Jan 1951
NGA object ID 131272. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.