"I" is for Illuminated Manuscript Style

     Illuminated manuscript style influenced the style of later printed Bibles in Europe.  During the medieval and late medieval period, Bibles were copied by hand and often richly decorated.  The two-column style also became standard.  After the development of printing, wealthy patrons who purchased printed bibles wanted the printed Bible to resemble the style of earlier hand-illuminated bibles, that style having become inseparably associated with the Bible because of centuries of producing Bibles in that style, namely, two-column pages with hand-painted initials beginning chapters and hand-painted decorations to finish the printed page.  Below, detail from a page from Exodus showing typical hand-painted decoration.  This leaf, held by the OCHF Library, dates from the 14th Century.  As in the case of most bibles of this period, the writing is done on fine animal skin (vellum) rather than paper.  (Click image for larger view.)

 

     Below is a typical hand-written Bible leaf from the 13th Century.  This leaf is from a small portable Bible.  (Click image for larger view.)

 

     The first printed Bible was produced by Johann Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany, probably completed between March and November 1455.  It is a print of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible.  Intended for wealthy clients, these large and expensive Bibles sold at a cost equivalent of three years' pay for the average clerk.  The Gutenberg Bibles were not ready for use when they came off the press.  Large capital letters and decoration were still to be added by hand.  The style and extent depended on how much money the buyer wanted to spend, and differed from one copy to the next, some pages being as highly decorated as the beautiful illuminated 14th Century leaf above.  Below, reproductions of two versions of Genesis I, the printed pages finished by hand to the individual taste of the patron who purchased the Bible.  (Click image for larger view.)

 

 

     The OCHF Library has many illuminated manuscripts including this Century leaf from a 16th Century "Antiphonary".  (Click image for larger view.)

 

 

     The OCHF Library has a number of original pages from an early printed Bible, the Jenson Bible of 1479, with fine hand-painted initials.  Note the exceptionally fine hand decoration added to the printed pages, below.  (Click image for larger view.)