83 Luther Bijbel

The first Bible for the people

Martin Luther's Bible, first printed in 1534, was not only the first complete
German publication of the Bible but also a major event in the history of
Christianity. Luther's revolutionary translation, very modern in vernacular
and interpretation, made the Bible accessible to laypeople for the first time
in history and gave life to a new religion: Protestantism. The Luther Bible
remains the most widely used version in the Germanic world today. In
commemoration of Year of the Bible (2003), TASCHEN is publishing a
sumptuous reprint of this seminal book. Including both the Old and New
Testaments, separated into two volumes totaling over 1800 pages,
TASCHEN's complete Luther Bible has been meticulously reproduced from
a rare colored copy of the original. Careful attention has been paid to
woodcuts and elaborate ornaments from the workshop of Lucas Cranach,
which are printed in color and gold so as to be perfectly faithful to the
original. Contained in a third volume is Stephan Füssel's introduction,
providing an overview of Luther's life, a discussion of the significance of his
bible, and detailed descriptions of the illustrations.

The author:
Stephan Füssel is Director of the Institute of the History of the Book at the
Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, and holder of the Gutenberg Chair
at the same university. He is President of the Willibald Pirckheimer Society
for Renaissance and Humanist Studies, member of the board of the
International Gutenberg Society and editor of the annual Gutenberg
Jahrbuch and Pirckheimer Jahrbuch. He has published widely on early
printing, on bookselling and publishing from the 18th to the 20th century,
and on the future of communications.