First Printed Vulgate with Woodcuts Throughout

Biblia cum tabula nuper impressa et cum summariis noviter editis.
Venice: Simon Bevilaqua, 1498. (Prothro B-117)

By the end of the fifteenth century, contemporary readers could consult a carefully edited single-volume Vulgate Bible that included printed initials, chapter numbers, book headlines, foliation, marginal references, chapter subdivisions, and additional readers’ aids. This Venetian edition was the first Vulgate to be illustrated with woodcuts introducing each book. These illustrations originally had appeared in Niccolò Malermi’s Italian translation of the Bible, first printed at Venice in 1490. One of the most engaging images, introducing the book of Ecclesiastes, shows King David studying in his library.