A leaf from the Catholican

A leaf from the Catholican. Mainz, Germany: Johann Gutenberg, 1459. 37 cm.

The Catholican, a large theological grammar and dictionary, is the last major printed work attibuted to Gutenberg. This leaf is from the incomplete Sloan-Krech copy of the Catholican which was broken up and sold shortly after World War Two. The edition, of which this copy forms a part, is noted as the first to name its place of printing. It is hand illuminated in red, and some authorities conjecture the illumination was by Gutenberg himself.