Paris Bible

Paris Bible is the name given to bibles produced by scribes mainly in Paris and areas of Northern France although examples are believed to have originated in England and Italy. However, scholars caution that the term is used too broadly as it is often confused with the 'pocket bible' which is applied to bibles produced from the 12th century onwards. These were small enough to be carried in a saddle or travelling bag or indeed a pocket. Scholars apply the term to bibles which possess a number of common characteristics. Each pandect contained the Deuterocanonical books (though not the apocryphal Epistle to the Laodiceans or the Fourth Book of Esdras), 64 prologues mostly based on the commentaries of Jerome and most have an index of the interpretations of Hebrew names (IHN). Whilst the thirteenth century bibles were divided into chapters, they were yet to include numbered verses. == Structure and format ==

The bibles varied, especially by region, from almost 200mm by 120mm, to a small 130mm by 80mm. The smaller "pocket" versions were intended for traveling friars. Scholars have disputed the fact that all Paris Bibles were single volume manuscripts as several two volume bibles are still in existence. Several leading Book Historians have suggested that where there is evidence of highly decorated pages mid-way through a one volume bible it is evidence of a two-volume manuscript being rebound at a later date as one volume. == Readers and owners ==

The explosion of the mendicant orders of preaching friars, in particular the Franciscans and Dominicans, lead to innovation in manuscript Bible design and manufacture: 20,000 small-format Paris Bibles are estimated to have been produced in the 13th century alone, in France, Italy and England. ==References==