Leaf from Biblia Latina [Esaias, fo. CLXXVI]

By the early 1500s, Bible publishing had become a big, international business. By 1504 in France alone, a new edition came out every year, sometimes as many as four or five. Anton Koberger, Germany’s leading publisher got in on the action by contracting with printers in Lyon to produce editions for him—eight between 1512 and 1522. This leaf of the book of Isaiah comes from one of the editions printed for him by Jacques Sacon, an Italian from the Piedmont region, who worked in Lyon. Their work was so authoritative that Martin Luther used their 1521 edition as the basis for his translation of the Latin Bible into German.