Designed and created prior to 1590 by Antonio Tempesta for the Medici Oriental Press (Typrographia Medicea Orientale) publication of the Evangelium Sanctum Domini nostri Jesu Christis in 1590/1591, Rome, Italy.[1] Used in 1619 for a reprint of the Evangelium Sanctum Domini by Jo. Antonius Rodolus, Rome, Italy.[2] Used in 1774 for a reprint of the Evangelium Sanctum Domini by Caesar Malanimeus, Florence, Italy.[3] Purchased at auction in 2007;[4] Privately purchased in 2012 by the Green Collection, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, under the curatorial care of Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.[5]
Notes: [1] The Medici Oriental Press (Typographia Medicea Orientale) was founded by Cardinal Ferdinado de’ Medici on March 6, 1584, at the request of Pope Gregory XIII. [2] Printed on the Medici Oriental Press, with a dedication to Cardinal Madrutius. [3] Malanimeus was the historian of the Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana. There is no other record of the woodblocks until 2003. [4] Purchased at Christie’s, June 6, 2007, Sale 7399, Lot 172. [5] Purchased from Les Enluminures, Paris and Chicago.
Published References:
Neil Harris, “Printing the Gospels in Arabic in Rome in 1590,” in A Concise Companion to the Study of Manuscripts, Printed Books, and the Production of Early Modern Texts, ed. Edward Jones (Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell, 2015), 131–149.
Sara Fani and Margherita Farina, Le Vie Delle Lettere: La Tipografia Medicea tra Roma e l’Oriente (Florence, Italy: Mandragora, 2012), 210–215.
Richard S. Field, Antonio Tempesta’s Blocks and Woodcuts For the Medicean 1591 Arabic Gospels (Paris, France: Les Enluminures, 2011).
Museum of the Bible Publications:
Roland S. Werner, Unser Buch: Die Geschichte der Bibel von Mose bis zum Mond (Our Book: The Story of the Bible from Moses to the Moon) (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH KG, 2017), 108–109.
David Trobisch, Jennifer Atwood, Jonathan Kirkpatrick, and Rory P. Crowley, Verbum Domini II: God’s Word Goes Out to the Nations (Abilene, Texas: Abilene Christian University Press, 2014), 123–125.