The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries of Bridwell Library opened an exhibit of fifteenth-century printed books from Europe on Monday, which will continue through May 2010.
This exhibition features 60 books and broadsides printed between 1455 and 1500 from Bridwell Library’s collection. The items within the selection display characteristics that vary according to the copy, drawing attention to the ways that Europeans explored the new opportunities brought to them by Gutenberg, as well demonstrating as the widespread usage of printing during this time period.
When early readers first obtained printed books, they often felt inclined to respond to the content or embellish their copies. Almost every item in the exhibit is embellished or decorated in some manner, whether it’s red rubricating on the first word of each verse in Gutenberg’s bible, or a personal coat of arms at the bottom of a page.
This tendency to display ownership or to write in the margins continues in modern books as well. Dante Silva, SMU sophomore, said he also annotates his books if it’s one that he likes.
The collection used in the gallery’s exhibit reflects the mainstreams of European theological thought based on Classical and Medieval traditions, and also from the beginnings of Christianity. Silva said that religious texts came to mind first when he thought of early printed books. “Even when it was more than just print on vellum, secular texts were printed later,” Silva said.
“For the most part, it was the church at the forefront.” This idea is most clearly demonstrated by the first text Johannes Gutenberg chose to print, the Latin Bible, or “Gutenberg’s Bible.” Bridwell Library has a copy of 31 consecutive leaves from this Bible speculated to have originally been owned by a Benedictine monk.
Besides Gutenberg’s first printed book, the exhibit also includes the Rationale divinorum officiorum, a Medieval treatise on Christian liturgy. This book is the library’s earliest complete book and shows the second way in which Gutenberg printed text. Whereas the Bible was printed letter by letter, Gutenberg could also print two complete lines of text.
Although Gutenberg printed only in black letters in Mainz, Germany, many of the gallery’s selections have colorful lines and decorative edges that are indicative of foreign countries, showing his success in the international market. Other countries quickly created their own printing presses, still printing mostly in Latin, but occasionally in their native languages as well. Among these attempts is a Classical text of selected works by Marcus Tullius Cicero.
This book is not only highly embellished by its owner, but it also is the first attempt to render Greek text in print.
Overall, the exhibit contains a great deal of rarities from the early days of printed text, including two pieces from Spain that are the only surviving copies of their kind, letters of indulgence, and “The Golden Legend,” a compilation of saints’ biographies and the only book intact from England’s first printer.
This exhibit is free and open to SMU and the general public during library hours. For those unable to physically visit the exhibit, there is an online version on the Bridwell Library page at smu.edu/libraries.
