Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/33

THE SPREAD OF THE ART OF PRINTING 21 'tending to the honour of God, the salvation of souls, and the civilisation of the people.' 1 Highest amongst these works in Germany stood the holiest of all printed books, the Bible. During this whole century it well-nigh monopolised most of the printing-presses of the West. Up to 1500 the Vulgate had gone through nearly one hundred editions. The first piece of real artistic work in the way of book- binding from Koberger's press was the exquisite German Bible of 1483, illustrated by Michael Wolge- murt with over one hundred woodcuts. This remarkable version of the entire collection of the Holy Scriptures, the clearest and most correct which had yet appeared in German, with excellent historical illustrations, ob- tained a wider circulation and had greater influence than any of the other ante-Lutheran Bibles. In addition to this version, fifteen others were issued by the same house before the close of the century, and nine by the house of Amerbach, of Basle, between 1479 and 1489. Next to the Bible, the leading publishers of the day, themselves as a rule highly educated men and personal conductors of important literary enterprises, turned their attention to bringing out worthy editions of the Fathers of the Church and the old scholastics, as also of the works of contemporary philosophers and theologians, and they were most particular with regard to faultless printing, beautiful type, and good paper. The productions of Koberger, Amerbach, Frohen, Schonsperger, Rynmann, and others will bear witness to this. Many of the publications of the first century after the invention of printing have been preserved to this 1 De Arte Impressoria, p. 12.