?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 40,000 - $ 50,000
(BIBLE IN LATIN.) Single leaf from a paper copy of the 42-line Bible, with the text of Acts 1-2:17 preceded by the preface of St. Jerome. Rubricated, including 2 initials in red and blue with penwork decoration, 2 headings in textura hand, and capital strokes in red. 390x276 mm; minor marginal soiling. [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg & Johann Fust, circa 1450-55]
The larger of the 2 manuscript initials is an inlaid replacement, probably executed in the the 19th century, for an excised original initial, with the missing text surrounding it and on the verso supplied in expert calligraphic facsimile. A number of restored initials of this kind are found on leaves from the incomplete copy of the Gutenberg Bible broken up by Gabriel Wells for the publication of A Noble Fragment. Hain 3031; GW 4201; BMC I, 17; Goff B526; ISTC ib00526000. Hinged in a copy of A. Edward Newton, A Noble Fragment; being, A Leaf of the Gutenberg Bible, 1450-1455, with a Bibliographical Essay. Folio, original black morocco gilt by Stikeman, spine chipped at top, rubbed at bottom; publisher's board slipcase, cracked, missing spine and portion of top panel. New York: Gabriel Wells, 1921. Bookplate of Walter Goldwater.
