Fragment of folio 126r [Psalterium].

Fragment of folio 126r [Psalterium].

Mainz,

Fust and Schöffer,

1459.

This 1459 Mainz psalter fragment comes from the second dated work printed with moveable type in the West. (Only 13 copies are known to survive.) Printed on vellum by Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer, its elaborate two-color initials and rubrics were created by a method known as “jigsaw printing.” Paired with a 15th-century manuscript fragment, the differences between the two can be difficult to distinguish. 15th-century printed books and manuscripts closely resemble one another, largely owing to economic factors and the bookmaking technologies available at the time.

From the collection of Rare Book School