The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection
at
Bridwell
Library
September 8 - December 12, 2009
First Old Testament in Dutch
[Old Testament. Dutch]. Vetus Testamentum. 2 vols. Delft: Jacob Jacobszoen
van der Meer and Mauricius Yemantszoen, 10 January 1477.
The first book printed in the city of Delft, the Old Testament published in Dutch in 1477 is the earliest printed vernacular Bible translation in Mrs. Prothro’s collection. Only the German, Italian, and French Bibles preceded this Dutch translation into print. Like most of the surviving manuscript versions, this Old Testament in Dutch lacks the Psalter, which generally appeared as an independent text. The exhibited openings show the arms of the city of Delft at the end of volume I, and a fifteenth-century owner’s annotations at the top of a page in volume II.