Incunabulum

An incunabulum (from the Latin incunabula — 'cradle,' 'swaddling clothes') is a book printed in Europe from the beginning of printing until January 1, 1501 — that is, in the 'cradle' period of typography. Incunabula were printed from movable type invented by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450; the first major book, and the most famous incunabulum, is the 42-line Gutenberg Bible (c. 1455). Early prints still imitated the manuscript book: Gothic type, the absence of a title page, spaces left for hand-drawn initials and rubrics. In half a century (up to 1500), several tens of thousands of editions were printed in Europe. Incunabula are an object of special study and the pride of library collections. Valuable collections of incunabula are preserved in the libraries of Ukraine (notably in Lviv and Kyiv). The next period of printing (1501–1550) is called that of paleotypes. Incunabulistics is the branch of bibliology that studies the first prints of this era.