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Posted by: Marianna Stell
Monty Python's Rabbit of Caerbannog is not the only killer bunny. The Rare Book and Special Collections Division has a fifteenth-century Birgittine manuscript from Mariënwater that contains a variation on this visual tradition.
Posted in: 15th Century, History of the Book, Illuminated Manuscript, Illustrated Book, Low Countries, Manuscript and Letterpress (Hand Press)
Posted by: Marianna Stell
In 1540, humanist polymath, mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer, professor, and printer, Peter Apian (1495-1552) published one of the most lavishly illustrated scientific books ever printed. Dedicated to German Emperor Charles V and Ferdinand I, King of Bohemia, the Astronomicum Caesareum (Imperial Astronomy) contains 21 volvelles and 58 hand-colored woodcuts that involve some of the most spectacular dragons in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
Posted in: 16th Century, Astronomy, Famous Printers, History of Mathematics, History of Science, History of the Book, Illustrated Book
Posted by: Marianna Stell
Happy Giant Bible Day! On April 4, 1952, philanthropist and bibliophile, Lessing J. Rosenwald (1891-1979) donated the Giant Bible of Mainz to the Library of Congress. He made this gift exactly five hundred years after the manuscript’s scribe first put quill to parchment. In keeping with Rosenwald's commitment to encouraging broad cultural engagement with the history of the illustrated book, the Library’s digitization allows book lovers near and far to encounter every page of this important and evocative manuscript.
Posted in: 15th Century, History of the Book, Illuminated Manuscript, Illustrated Book, Library History, Provenance