Dutch Old Testament. Delft, 1477

[DUTCH OLD TESTAMENT]. 2 vols.
Delft: Jacob Jacobszoon van der Meer and Mauricius Yemantszoon, 10 January 1477. (Prothro B-147)

This two-volume Dutch Old Testament was the first book printed at Delft, and the first edition of any part of the Bible translated into Dutch (the New Testament was not printed until 1524). Donated to Bridwell Library in 1996, Mrs. Prothro’s copy was owned in the nineteenth century by the Belgian Senator Frans Vergauwen (d. 1884) of Ghent, who combined leaves from three incomplete copies in his possession to create this “perfected” copy. The most noteworthy of the source copies, parts of which are still preserved at the University of Ghent, was inscribed in 1477 by Cornelius Aernoldszoon, a member of the Brethren of the Common Life who resided at Eemsteyn, near Dordrecht. His Bible was characterized by the Latin summaries and occasional Dutch annotations he wrote at the top of each leaf, and the red folio numbers he added to the lower margins. Bridwell Library’s copy contains 55 leaves derived from Aernoldszoon’s Bible.

The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection