Papal Indulgence 1480

TOLLENTIS, Lucas de (1428–1491).
Litterae Indulgentiarum anni jubilaei causa 1480.
Vellum broadside.
[Mainz: Peter Schoeffer, before 22 March] 1480. (07015)

Schoeffer was one of several printers who published this letter of indulgence, authored by the Bishop of Sebenico (Croatia), which could be bought for the remission of sin in the Jubilee Year of 1480. This copy was purchased and filled out by hand at Kirn, Germany, on 17 April 1480; unfortunately, the name of the purchaser has been erased. The only other surviving copy of Schoeffer's edition, now at Frankfurt am Main, was inscribed on 22 March 1480. Here, the bottom edge is folded up and pierced with old string that formerly attached the issuer’s seal.

The large initial L came from the supply used in the 1462 Bible, and the initial M came from the 1457 Psalter font. However, the most interesting typographical features of this indulgence are the three headings in larger Gothic letters. These were printed with the 25-year-old types of the 42-Line Bible, which evidently came into Fust and Schoeffer’s possession in late 1455 and were left to Schoeffer after Fust's death in 1466.