In 1466 the Strasbourg printer Johann Mentelin (around 1410– 1478) brought the first German-language Bible onto the market. This ushered in the start of German Bible publishing quite some time before Martin Luther’s (1483–1546) famous translation, which appeared in 1534. Mentelin had already had great success in 1460 with a Latin Bible, but switched to German due to competition in the Latin market. His Bible served as a benchmark until the new translation by Luther, but the exact sources on which Mentelin based his translation are unknown. He certainly used an antiquated version of the Latin Vulgate and possibly also various medieval German manuscripts. The present copy contains no information as to its printer, year or place of publication, but can be dated to 1466 thanks to other copies. Early incunabula commonly imitate the design and layout of medieval manuscripts. Thus Mentelin has used a compact Gothic type and left room for decoration. The multi-coloured initial at the very beginning, with its tendril-like leafy motifs in different colours, is particularly noteworthy.