THE MAINZ PSALTER - Browsing Facsimile Editions (4K / UHD)

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Commissioned by the Archbishop of Mainz in 1457, the Mainz Psalter is the second major printed book following the Gutenberg Bible. It was created by two former associates of Johannes #Gutenberg, Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer, and was the first publication of their new studio. The work represents many firsts in the history of book printing: it was the first book to have a printed colophon with the date, printer (Schöffer), and publisher (Fust) as well as two sizes of type, printed decorative #initials, and is the first book to be printed in three colors – black, red, and blue. Its text is printed in black and red and has numerous red and blue woodcut initials, but the technique was abandoned soon thereafter because the setting and resetting of the different colored types was too time consuming. The Mainz Psalter thus represents a rare example of this process and most early printed works continued to leave blank spaces for artists to draw initials and other decorative elements by hand. 13 copies of the printed book on vellum are known to exist today, including this specimen from the Austrian National Library.

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