Originally Paupers' Bibles took the form of colourful hand-painted
illuminated manuscripts on
vellum, though in the fifteenth century printed examples with
woodcuts took over. The
Biblia pauperum was among the commonest works put out in
block-book form, mainly in the Netherlands and Germany, where both text and images were done entirely in a single woodcut for each page. The first of many editions printed using
movable type was printed in German, in
Bamberg in about 1462 by
Albrecht Pfister; there were about eighteen
incunabulum editions. A
Biblia pauperum was not intended to be bought by the poor — some manuscripts were opulent and very expensive, although the block-book versions were far cheaper, and probably affordable by parish priests. The simpler versions were however probably used by the clergy as a teaching aid for those who could not read, which included most of the population. The name
Biblia pauperum was applied by German scholars in the 1930s. Each group of images in the
Biblia pauperum is dedicated to one event from the
Gospels, which is accompanied by two slightly smaller pictures of
Old Testament events which prefigure the central one, according to belief of medieval theologians in
typology; these parallels are explained in two blocks of text, and each of the three Biblical scenes is introduced with a Latin verse. Four
Prophets hold scrolls with quotations from their Books, which prefigure the same event from the Gospels. For example, the scene of
Longinus spearing Jesus as he hangs on the Cross is accompanied by God bringing forth Eve from the side of Adam, and Moses striking the rock so that water flowed forth, together with prophecies of
Zechariah, the
Psalms, the
Lamentations and
Amos. The earliest manuscripts of the
Biblia Pauperum were made in Bavaria and Austria in the 14th century, they have 34–36 groups. Later versions add more scenes, and one of the most detailed versions is the 50-part blockbook version, produced in the Netherlands in 1480–1495. ==Alternatives==