What are Incunabula?

Herbarius zu teütsch unnd von allderhandt kreuteren, offered by Martayan Lan

Quadragesimale di filio prodigo, offered by D & E Lake Ltd. (ABAC, ILAB)

An incunable (incunabulum, plural incunables or incunabula) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in Europe before the year 1501.
The word itself is derived from the Latin word incunabula, which means cradle, or swaddling clothes, referring to the very beginning of the art of publishing.  This term first appeared in a Latin pamphlet by Bernhard von Mallinckrodt in 1639.  His phrase “prima typographicae incunabula" means “the first infancy of printing" in reference to any printing done before the year 1500, an arbitrary date chosen by Mallinckrodt.  By the late 1600′s, this term was used to describe the physical books from that time period.  A less commonly used term for “incunable" is “fifteener," referring to the fifteenth century.
You can find incunables and other special collectibles in the Biblio.com Rare Book Room.

Click any of the Incunable images to view their full descriptions on Biblio.com!