Detail of a frontispiece shows four animals grouped between two pillars. In the background, castles sit on either side of a harbor where ships wait. Text in Latin.
Detail of a page that is split in half. The left portion of the page is designated to text in Hebrew while the right side shows text in Latin.
Detail of a page that is split in half. The left portion of the page is designated to text in Hebrew while the right side shows text in Latin.
Detail of a page that is split in half. The left portion of the page is designated to text in Latin while the right side shows text in Greek.

Biblia Sacra Hebraice, Chaldaice, Graece, & Latine Philippi II

1573

A polyglot or multilingual bible is a scientific edition of the bible in all the official source languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and Syriac) as well as the official Latin translation. The Plantin edition of the bible was printed between 1568 and 1572 in Antwerp and was supported by King Philip II of Spain. It is considered both an intellectual and typographic masterwork. During his lifetime, John Carter Brown was able to acquire all important early modern polyglot bibles, including this edition, namely the Alcálá dee Henares edition of 1516.

Related

Detail of a leaf of the Gutenberg bible printed in black and red ink shows Latin text.

The Gutenberg bible

Johann Gutenberg
1455-1456
Detail of a blockbook shows woodcut illustration of biblical scene in the garden of eden. A woman holds an apple and is talking to a large snake. Text in Latin also visible.

Biblia pauperum

1460-1470
Printed title page includes decorative border and text in English reading "The Whole Book of Psalmes Faithfully translated into English metre." Left side of the page shows manuscript notations.

The whole booke of Psalmes faithfully translated into English metre

1640

Place

Europe

Genre

Book

Theme

Religious Cultures
History of the Book
Collecting History of the JCB Library

Language

Latin

Period

16th Century

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