1607 Sacra Biblia, Sixto-Clementine Vulgate, Venice, Deuchino, Illustrated & Uncensored

Overview:

Sacra Biblia, Vulgatae Editionis Sixti Quinti Pont. Max. Iussu recognita, atque edita.
Venice: Evangelista Deuchino, 1607 (MDCVII)
Latin. Approx. 19.5 × 13.8 cm.

A highly attractive early 17th-century Venetian illustrated Bible, printed by Evangelista Deuchino in 1607. This edition contains the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate, the authoritative Latin text of the Roman Catholic Bible established following the Council of Trent.

The volume is particularly notable for its extensive series of Renaissance biblical woodcuts, including the celebrated and sometimes censored depiction of David and Bathsheba, which survives in this copy entirely uncensored.

The 1607 Deuchino Bible

The title page reads:

SACRA BIBLIA
Vulgatae Editionis
SIXTI QVINTI PONT. MAX. IVSSV
recognita, atque edita.
VENETIIS,
Apud Euangelistam Deuchinum.
MDCVII.

Printed in Venice by Evangelista Deuchino, the Bible belongs to the Sixto-Clementine tradition of the Latin Vulgate. The Clementine Vulgate was first issued in 1592 following the withdrawal and correction of the earlier 1590 Sixtine edition and subsequently became the standard Catholic Latin Bible for centuries.

The present edition is recorded with approximately 249 woodcut illustrations, together with numerous decorative and historiated initials. The illustrations depict episodes throughout the Old and New Testaments and make this a particularly visually appealing early 17th-century Bible.

The Uncensored David and Bathsheba Woodcut

Of particular interest is the woodcut illustrating II Regum XI, corresponding to 2 Samuel 11 in modern English Bibles.

The scene depicts King David observing Bathsheba bathing, with Bathsheba represented completely nude.

This image became problematic in the religious climate following the Council of Trent, which had placed greater emphasis upon decorum in sacred imagery. Surviving examples of this 1607 edition are known in which Bathsheba's nudity was subsequently censored, coloured over or otherwise deliberately obscured.

The Bridwell Library has specifically discussed censorship of this illustration in surviving copies of the 1607 Deuchino Bible.

Importantly, the illustration in the present copy remains fully intact and uncensored, preserving the woodcut as originally printed.

Illustrations

The Bible is profusely illustrated throughout with Renaissance woodcuts, many surrounded by elaborate architectural and ornamental borders.

Among the illustrations visible in the volume are scenes relating to Adam and Eve and the Fall, Exodus, Solomon, Job, Baruch, the Baptism and Temptation of Christ, and the Evangelists.

Many are substantial illustrations occupying a considerable proportion of the page rather than simply serving as small decorative vignettes.

Historical Context

This Bible was produced only fifteen years after the first publication of the Clementine Vulgate in 1592.

The late 16th and early 17th centuries were an important period for Catholic biblical printing. Following the Council of Trent, considerable attention was devoted to establishing an authoritative Latin biblical text for use throughout the Catholic Church.

Venice, meanwhile, remained one of Europe's great centres of book production. Deuchino's edition combines the standardized Catholic Vulgate text with an extensive Renaissance illustrative programme inherited from the flourishing Venetian printing tradition.

Binding

Bound in a later quarter-calf binding over marbled paper boards, with leather corners.

The spine is decorated with gilt tooling and retains a red morocco title label lettered:

BIBLIA SACRA

The binding shows age-related wear, including rubbing, cracking and wear to the leather, particularly around the spine and extremities. Despite this, the boards remain attached and the volume presents attractively.

Condition

A very good surviving example of this extensively illustrated 1607 Venetian Bible.

The text is generally clean and well preserved for a volume more than 400 years old, with strong impressions of both the typography and woodcut illustrations. There is expected age-related toning, occasional spotting and staining, marginal marks and handling wear, together with more noticeable wear and staining to some opening and closing leaves.

The later binding shows rubbing and cracking consistent with age and use.

The general title page is present, as are the concluding index and final FINIS leaf.

The celebrated David and Bathsheba woodcut at II Regum XI is present and entirely uncensored.

Leaf dimensions: approximately 19.5 × 13.8 cm.

The volume has not yet been fully collated against a bibliographical copy, so completeness beyond the sections and leaves examined should not be assumed.

Why Buy This Copy?

This is an appealing example of an early 17th-century Catholic Bible combining several desirable features: Venetian printing, the early Sixto-Clementine Vulgate text, extensive Renaissance woodcut illustration, and an unusually interesting survival of an uncensored religious image.

The uncensored Bathsheba woodcut is particularly noteworthy. Other surviving copies of this exact 1607 edition are documented with the image deliberately obscured, providing a fascinating physical reminder of changing attitudes toward religious imagery during the Counter-Reformation.

A handsome and highly displayable Bible with considerable interest for collectors of early printed Bibles, Venetian printing, Renaissance woodcuts, Catholic history and the history of censorship.