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Rare Books

Rare Book Division
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08540
609-258-3184
Curator of Rare Books
609-258-9942

Blockbooks, or xylographica, were produced in Europe. Similar to a picture book in style, where there are more illustrations than text. The illustration and accompanying text were cut with the knife on wood, and printed on one side of the paper only.

In the Graphic Arts Collection, there are three leaves of an early or mid-? 15th century blockbook, classed in the Book Leaves Collection, GC110. These are presumably the gift of Junius Spencer Morgan, being probably the leaves exhibited during October 20-22, 1896, as item 52 in "List of Exhibits in the Chancellor Green Library, Oct. 20,21 and 22, 1896." See also Alumni Princetonian, Vol II, p. 48 (Sept. / Oct., 1895) recording his gift of 'three pages of the Biblia Pauperum.'

In the Scheide Library are a 40 leaf Biblia pauperum and a 3 leaf fragment. See the Library's main catalogue for details.