The Gruber Rare Books Collection and Other Rare Books
Reformation Era Documents -
The Greek New Testament of Erasmus
Erasmus by Holbien
Scans of slides from Gruber collection
This slide begins Novum Instrumentum, and is the title page of the Greek New Testament.
This is the colophon, with the insignia of Johannes Froben, the Basel printer who published the first and second editions of this New Testament.
Gruber 7 Erasmus - 1516.
Gruber 7 Erasmus. Novum Instrumentum omne, diligenter ab Erasmo Roterodamo recognitum. Basileae in aedibus Ioannis Frobenii...Anno MDXVI. First edition of Erasmus' New Testament. = Basel: Froben. The great humanist's New Testament was greeted enthusiastically by scholars.
On left: scan of Reinitzer, 86
While of outstanding importance for its day, Erasmus based his edition on late Greek manuscripts. For the final portion of Revelation, in fact, he had no manuscript and so he translated the Vulgate back into Greek!
Dedication of the first edition of the New Testament to Pope Leo X
Gruber 6 Erasmus.
Gruber 6 Erasmus. Novum Testamentum Omne, Multo Quam Antehac Diligentius ab Erasmo Roteodamo recognitum...Basel: Froben, 1519. 2nd edition. Luther used this edition in preparing his translation of the New Testament in 1522.
First page from Paul's letter to the Romans in Greek.
First page from Paul's letter to the Romans in Latin.
The Gruber Collection was assembled by L. Franklin Gruber, President of Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary, Maywood, Illinois.
Annotation prepared by Ralph W Klein