Leaf from Biblia Germanica Quatuordecima [Book of Ruth] (Augsburg: Silvan Otmar, 1518)

The leaf comes from the fourteenth German edition of the Bible, printed in Augsburg in 1518. No doubt this book would have been of keen interest, since Martin Luther stood trial for heresy before many of the most powerful men of Germany in Augsburg in October of 1518. This book allowed those who could read German but not Latin to make their own judgements about what the Bible said. The large decorative initial “I” marks the beginning of the book of Ruth.