A   REMARKABLE   BIBLE

In  the  Allan  Library  there  is  one  of  the  most
remarkable  Bibles  in  existence.  It  is  dated  1483,
is  printed  in  German,  and  is  a  very  thick  folio.
Competent  authority  says  it  is  the  most  splendid
of  all  the  German  Bibles,  and  that  it  was  the  first
Bible  printed  at  Nuremberg.  The  paper,  charac-
ters, press-work,  and  everything  else  belonging  to
Koburger's  Bible,  prove  it  to  be  a  masterpiece  of
typographical  excellence.  A  noteworthy  feature  is
that  it  has  more  than  sixty  bits  of  leather  attached
to  the  leaves,  to  denote  where  the  illuminations  of
the  larger  capitals  are  to  be  found.  These  orna-
mentations, however,  are  wanting,  never  having
been  executed,  save  one  at  the  beginning  as  a
specimen.  The  late  Eev.  T.  Hartwell  Home,  no
mean  judge  of  typographical  excellence,  said  that
it  was  the  printer's  chef  d'ceuvre.
The  curious  coloured  engravings  are  an  interest-
ing study  in  themselves,  and  they  display  the  very
primitive  simplicity  of  the  period  when  they  were
executed.  To  describe  the  whole  would  require
far  more  space  than  I  have  at  my  disposal,  but  a


156  METHODIST  RECOLLECTIONS

brief  account  of  a  few  of  the  more  noteworthy
will  serve  to  indicate  the  character  of  the  rest.
