Biblia Latina Cum Postillis Nicolai de Lyra
[Venice, Octavianus Scotus, 1489]
Volumes one & four
University of Manitoba, Dysart 48

Nicholas of Lyra was a prominent fourteenth-century interpreter of scripture who called for attention to the literal meaning of scripture (in distinction from its allegorical meanings). Nicholas's work was a significant influence on Martin Luther.

These books are the first and last volumes of a four volume Biblical commentary with the Biblical text in the upper center of the page, surrounded by Nicolas's gloss. Nicholas's illustrations of Biblical scenes and items were scholarly standards of the period. Note that the volumes differ in rubrication. Space has been left for a colored first letter at the beginning of each section, but actual rubrication was apparently optional, as the guide letter also serves as a substitute for the striking but expensive hand-work of the rubricator. These sort of spaces left for rubrication (and left empty) led to the modern practice of indenting paragraphs.