1455–1568

Gallery of Early Printed Books

The most beautiful and consequential editions of the first century of printing, gathered in one place — scroll down from Gutenberg’s Bible to Amman’s Book of Trades.

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1455
Biblia latina (42-line Bible)
Biblia latina (42-line Bible)Mainz · Johann Gutenberg
1457
Beatus vir opening with the great two-colour initial B
Psalterium (Mainz Psalter)Mainz · Johann Fust
1461
Opening leaf with the ape-and-nut fable
Der EdelsteinBamberg · Albrecht Pfister
1469
Historia naturalis
Historia naturalisVenice · Johannes de Spira
1470
De evangelica praeparatione
De evangelica praeparationeVenice · Nicolaus Jenson
Illuminated opening folio
Epistolae ad Brutum, ad Quintum fratrem, ad Atticum, etc.Venice · Nicolaus Jenson
1471
Illuminated opening leaf with Pico Master decoration
Institutio oratoriaVenice · Nicolaus Jenson
1472
Illuminated opening of Book I with white-vine initial
Historia naturalisVenice · Nicolaus Jenson
1473
De claris mulieribus
De claris mulieribusUlm · Johann Zainer
1476
Illuminated opening folio dedicated to Ferdinand I of Naples
Historia naturaleVenice · Nicolaus Jenson
Kalendarium
KalendariumVenice · Erhard Ratdolt
Vita et Fabulae (Ulm Aesop)
Vita et Fabulae (Ulm Aesop)Ulm · Johann Zainer
1482
Illuminated opening of the Proemium
Cosmographia (Geographia)Ulm · Lienhart Holle
Elementa geometriae
Elementa geometriaeVenice · Erhard Ratdolt
 ❦Poeticon astronomiconVenice · Erhard Ratdolt
1485
Sphaera mundi, etc.
Sphaera mundi, etc.Venice · Erhard Ratdolt
1486
Peregrinatio in terram sanctam
Peregrinatio in terram sanctamMainz · Erhard Reuwich
1488
Opening of the prohemium
De proprietatibus rerumHeidelberg · Printer of Lindelbach
1491
Schatzbehalter der wahren Reichtümer des Heils
Schatzbehalter der wahren Reichtümer des HeilsNuremberg · Anton Koberger
1493
Liber chronicarum (Nuremberg Chronicle)
Liber chronicarum (Nuremberg Chronicle)Nuremberg · Anton Koberger
1494
Das Narrenschiff (Ship of Fools)
Das Narrenschiff (Ship of Fools)Basel · Johann Bergmann von Olpe
Dedicatory opening with woodcut border
Somma di arithmetica, etc.Venice · Paganinus de Paganinis
1495–98
Opening leaf with Aldus's Greek epigram to friends
Aristoteles, Opera, etc.Venice · Aldus Manutius
1496
De Aetna
De AetnaVenice · Aldus Manutius
1497
Index leaf listing the contents
De mysteriis Aegyptiorum, etc.Venice · Aldus Manutius
1498
Title page
Apocalypsis cum figurisNuremberg
Title page with Pigouchet's Adam and Eve device
Horae ad usum Romanum (Heures à l'usage de Rome)Paris · Philippe Pigouchet
1499
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
Hypnerotomachia PoliphiliVenice · Aldus Manutius
1517
Theuerdank
TheuerdankNuremberg · Hans Schönsperger the Elder
1538
Title page
Les simulachres et historiees faces de la mort (Dance of Death)Lyon · Melchior and Gaspar Trechsel
1540
Astronomicum Caesareum
Astronomicum CaesareumIngolstadt · Petrus Apianus
1544
Title page
Praeparatio evangelica (Greek editio princeps)Paris · Robert Estienne
1557
Title page
La Métamorphose d'Ovide figuréeLyon · Jean de Tournes
1568
Eygentliche Beschreybung aller Stände auff Erden (Ständebuch)
Eygentliche Beschreybung aller Stände auff Erden (Ständebuch)Frankfurt am Main · Georg Rab the Elder