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A Short History of the Giant Bible
[Bible in Latin] 4 Apr. 1452-9 Jul. 1453. Mainz, Germany. Rosenwald Collection, Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
April 4, 1452: The scribe began copying the Giant Bible of Mainz.
July 9, 1453: The scribe finished writing Giant Bible of Mainz.
1566: The Giant Bible of Mainz was entrusted to the Cathedral of Mainz by Heinrich Stockheim, a Cantor at the Mainz Cathedral.
1631: During the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), the Bible was removed from Mainz Cathedral by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (r.1611-1632), who gave it to his military general, the Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604-1639). The Bible remained in the ducal family and passed-down to his descendants, the Dukes of Gotha.
1951: H. P. Kraus (1907-1988), a bookseller from New York, purchased the Bible from the descendants of the Dukes of Gotha. Kraus sold the Bible to Lessing J. Rosenwald (1891-1979).
April 4, 1952: Lessing J. Rosenwald gave the Giant Bible of Mainz to the Library of Congress.
