Štátna vedecká knižnica v Banskej Bystrici

Popredné miesto medzi vzácnymi zbierkovými predmetmi ŠVK v Banskej Bystrici zaujíma od roku 1983 Biblia, ktorú v roku 1555 vytlačil Hans Lufft vo Wittenbergu. Od roku 1969 sa kniha nachádzala v rodine Petelenovcov v Banskej Bystrici, predtým bola uchovávaná v knižnici rodiny Breuerovcov vo Zvolene, v regióne, ktorý bol historicky vnímavý k reformácii už od jej počiatkov. Biblia vyšla až po smrti Martina Luthera (1483 - 1546), ale ešte pomerne prísne zachováva ním spracovanú podobu textov. Podobné nemecké vydania Lutherovej Biblie, avšak z iných rokov polovice 16. storočia sa zachovali aj v Lyceálnej knižnici v Bratislave, vo fondoch SNK v Martine a inde na Slovensku, ale podrobnejší výskum tejto pamiatky potvrdil, že banskobystrická Biblia je vzácnym exemplárom, ktorý sa zachoval pravdepodobne len v Herzog August Bibliothek v meste Wolfenbüttel, avšak s nekolorovanými drevorezmi. Podobný exemplár z tohto roku je v knižnici Pembroke College v Cambridge.

Martin Luther ´s Bible is a real treasure owned by the Literary and Musical Museum. It was printed in the year 1555 in Wittenberg, Germany and it is the only unique exemplar of this edition preserved in the world. At that time, in the 16th century, many young men from this region studied in Germany and when they returned back home they worked as teachers, clergy men, philosophers or musicians. It was probably this way, the Bible arrived here. The Luther`s Bible was twice restored. It includes 165 coloured woodcuts, majority are well preserved. Ten of them are unique, not used in other editions of the Bible. The woodcuts are miniature master-pieces manually coloured. Research of the Bible was concentrated in musical iconography of the book. Dr. Bárdiová classified musical motifs of the book and according to her classification, the musical instruments have different functions - signalling, ceremonnial, then used as a symbol or a kind of weapon (the Jericho scene). Various types of trumpets and harps are among the most often used musical instruments in the pictures. For many reasons, the Luther`s Bible is of immense value - for the content, artistic and aesthetic qualities, the cultural, historical and linguistic message for people of our time. A new life to this scarce book was given by its preservation in digital form.