Luther-Bibel (Vol. 1), 1550/51 (Landesbibliothek Coburg, Lu Ib 114[1])

After King Charles V (Roman-German king 1519–1556, emperor from 1530) had imposed the imperial ban on Martin Luther (1483–1546) in the edict of Worms in May 1521, the reformer spent ten months disguised as “Junker Jörg” (Squire George) on the Wartburg. Here, in eleven weeks he translated the New Testament into German, using as his basis the Greek New Testament edited by Erasmus of Rotterdam (d. 1536).

In early March, Luther returned to Wittenberg and revised his translation together with Philip Melanchthon (1497–1560) and Georg Spalatin (1484–1545). In September 1522, the New Testament was ready for publication. In the following years, he gradually translated the Old Testament with the support of Melanchthon and of other theologians while also taking into account the original text in Hebrew. The first part of the Old Testament was published in the summer of 1523. In 1534, the entire Bible could be printed in German.

As in the case of the first edition of the entire Bible of 1534, the version of 1551 was printed in the workshop of Hans Lufft (d. 1584) in Wittenberg. The distinguishing feature of this later edition were the illustrations which no longer corresponded to the designs used since the first full Bible of 1534. Many of the new illustrations are signed, but there are diverse monograms.

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