Over the last two weeks, we've used Gemini Deep Research to produce richly detailed historical background reports for a collection of foundational Americana and Estonian books. maps and other artifacts. Let's repeat this process for a seminal collection of some of the landmark picture Bibles of the past 500 years, including foundational works like Holbein's Icones, the Jode, Visscher Royal, Hondt, Sheits, Van Sichem, Merian and Dore, along with a few illustrated and textual Bibles that are also part of the collection for comparison. Here we focus only on the collection's Bible holdings, with future series covering its broader holdings of illuminated manuscripts and other religious works. For each of the works below, Gemini Deep Research was used to write a historical backgrounder using the prompt below. Given the uncommonness of all of the works on this page, the extreme rarity of several, the fact that most today are encountered only through disbound prints disconnected from the original work and the fact that the images of these works are far better known than their source books, there is likely an elevated amount of errors in these AI-created reports (though a spot check of each did not turn up any immediate major errors), so use these reports only as an entrance point to each work's rich history and background.
Give me a deeply researched history and context of [ITEM NAME HERE] and focusing on its background, context, significance, meaning to and place among picture Bibles and Biblical imagery and rarity. Tell me about its artist, engraver, text, publisher, etc. Estimate how many copies survive and especially how many complete copies are known. Report should be entirely in English.
1539 Holbein's Icones (Second Edition / First Complete Edition)
The genesis of the "picture Bible" and the definitive image-centric Bible of the woodcut era that established the imagery of the Bible for generations. Complete, with all images. Signature H is in corrected order, indicating it was not among the first prints of the 1539 run. An unusually crisp and clear copy, rebound in blind tooled Morocco by famed binder Bernard Middleton prior to the late 1980s.
1576 – Biblia ad vetustissima exemplaria nunc recens castigata – [edited by Johannes Hentenius]. Venice: (Giacomo Vitale for) Heirs of Niccolò Bevilacqua
An "illustrated", rather than a "picture" Bible, since it incorporates the imagery into a textual Bible, this Bevilacqua Louvain offers an early example of the richness of woodcut-illustrated Bibles in which imagery and text were freely comingled. Complete, though water damage to earlier pages.
1585 Jode's Thesaurus
The first "true" picture Bible and one of the most influential books in the history of Biblical illustration. An exquisitely rare fully complete copy with all images, table of contents and one of the few copies to include the original 1579 preface text. Includes the optional "Nine Angels" series.
1650 – Lüneburger Osianderbibel / "Stern Bible" – BIBLIA, DAS IST: DIE GANTZE HEILIGE SCHRIFFT – Lüneburg: Sterne
An extremely rare surviving mid-17th century "large pulpit folio" more than 18.5" tall, 12" wide and 5" thick. Sparsely illustrated, reflecting the focus on text over imagery. The text is the original Martin Luther translation. Example of monumental Bible size and austere text-centric presentation.
1657 – Paets Bible / Moerentorf Bible / Van Sichem Bible by Pieter Jacobsz in the Netherlands
One of the most profusely illustrated woodcut Bibles of its era, with more than 1,200 woodcuts and thousands of woodcut decorated initials, including hundreds of large historiated initials and dozens of woodcut head- and tail-piece vignettes. Complete, with both the 1646 Leemputte New Testament and the 1657 Old Testament and both title pages.
1665 – Biblia, Das ist: Die gantze Heilige Schrift, durch D. Martin Luther verteutschet by Caspar Mangoldt in Basel
Another minimally-illustrated Bible, showing most how most Bibles of its type included only an illustrated title page and a small selection of Biblical maps. Note how the world map shows California detached from the mainland of America.
Visscher Royal bound in a 1672 Swart King James Bible
Like the Jode, this copy of the exquisitely rare and seminal Visscher Royal picture Bible contains 116 of the 130 double-page Visscher Royal plates bound inside a 1672 Swart, which is itself a fascinating and historically significant artifact of Biblical history.
1710 – Halma's Reengraving Of The Scheits'sche Bibel – Afbeeldzels van 't Oude en Niewe Testament – Matthias Scheits
Halma's reengraving of the "Scheits Bible" imagery with 164 plates, including 14 double-page.
1732 – Pieter de Hondt’s illustrated Bible + First Bible of the Dutch Old Catholics
First edition of the Bible of the Dutch Old Catholics, interleaved with all 214 engravings from Pieter de Hondt’s illustrated Bible. These comprise two engraved title pages and 212 engravings, 29 of which are double-page plates, engraved by Gerard Hoet, Arnold Houbraken, and Bernard Picart. All the engravings have captions in six languages: Hebrew, English, German, Latin, French, and Dutch.
1739 – First Estonian Bible
Not a picture Bible and contains no illustrations, but included to represent the progression of Bible printing as the first Bible translation in Estonian and one of the oldest surviving books written in the Estonian language.
1740 – Catholische Mayntzische Bibel
Contains most of the 234 Merian copperplates.
1773 – Second Estonian Bible
Not a picture Bible, but included to trace the progression of Bible printing and offer a counterpoint showcasing the austere text-only Bibles that were vastly more common than the richly illustrated ones focused on here.
1788 – Dilherr Bible / Small Kurfürstenbibel
Richly illustrated with Sandrart woodcuts and includes the elector copperplates, making this a so-called "Small Kurfürstenbibel".
1866 – Dore Mame Bible
A first state first printing 1866 Mame with Adam covered by a robe in the Formation of Eve print (see example of second state and more details). One of just 3,200 copies ever printed of this first edition first state. In original publisher's red percaline binding with gilt lettering.
