the Hamburg Bible

{{Short description|Memory of the World inscription}}

File:Hamburgbiblen - GKS 4-fol-II 21ra 2.jpg

The Hamburg Bible (also Biblia Latina or The Bible of Bertoldus) is a richly illuminated Latin Bible in three very large volumes made for the Cathedral of Hamburg in 1255. It is presently in The Royal Library, Denmark and was inscribed in 2011 on UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register.[https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/ms-gks-4-2deg-vol-i-iii-biblia-latina-commonly-called-hamburg-bible-or-bible-bertoldus MS. GKS 4 2°, vol. I-III, Biblia Latina. Commonly called “the Hamburg Bible”, or “the Bible of Bertoldus”] UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, accessed 27 February 2025

As a witness to the medieval book culture in Europe, The Hamburg Bible is a monument in its own right. It is the result of a small group of highly talented clergy- and craftsmen who not only exercised their skills to an extraordinary perfection, but also allowed themselves - or were allowed - to show their fascination of their own craft. The 89 illuminated initials contained in the three volumes illustrate themes of biblical books, with one illustrating the production of the medieval book, from the manufacturing of parchment at the beginning of the process to the illumination of initial letters when the work approached completion.Erik Petersen: Bertoldus' bibel. Bøger, billeder og bogstaver i et håndskrift fra 1255 Fund og Forskning i Det Kongelige Biblioteks Samlinger (Copenhagen), Vol. 32, 1993. pp.7-38 The images are unique both as expressions of medieval art and as sources to the craft and history of the medieval book.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}