Welcoming the Society of Biblical Literature
This summer, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam welcomes the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) for its International Meeting from July 28 to August 1. The SBL International Meeting is held annually outside North America. It provides a unique forum for international scholars who are unable to attend the North American meeting and for all who wish to engage more directly with SBL's growing international membership and scholarship. To mark this occasion, the University Library is featuring seven unique Bibles printed in the 16th century from its Special Collections.
The early days of book printing
Printing books was a fairly new phenomenon at this time. Previously, reproducing texts was only possible by copying them by hand. The arrival of the printing press in the mid-15th century meant an enormous increase in efficiency in book production. Given the important place that the Bible occupied at the time, it is not surprising that it ended up on the printing press many times.
Admiring craftsmanship throughout
In this exhibition, we see seven Bibles in seven different languages. The rise of religious literature in the vernacular had already started several centuries earlier, but the sixteenth century is characterized by countless editions of the Bible in the vernacular. The Bibles in this exhibition show that the typesetting and printing of Bibles was accompanied by craftsmanship and care that we still look at with admiration some five centuries later.
This exhibition was put together by Willemien van Dijk, Curator of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books, and can be viewed from July 24 to August 22, 2024.