Biblia Sacra ad optima exemplaria
Biblia Sacra ad optima exemplaria
By Nicole Ponce De La Torre
| Title | Biblia sacra, ad optima quaeque veteris, & vulgate translationis exemplaria summa diligentia, parisque fide castigara. Cum Hebraicorum, Caldaeorum & Graecorum nomuinu interpretatione. |
| Document type | Printed text |
| Publisher | Gulielmum Rovillium |
| Year of publication | 1566 |
| Extent | 1 vol. ([15]-1114-[115] p.) |
| Format | 38 cm |
| Place of publication | Lugduni (Lyon) |
| Languages | French |
| Location | Found at Centre Diocésain (Besançon) |
About the Bible Sacra at optima
The Biblia Sacra ad optima exemplaria is a Latin edition from the sixteenth century that reflects the humanist spirit of its time. Published in Lyon in several editions between 1554 and 1567, primarily by Jean de Tournes (Ioan. Tornaesium) and Guillaume Rouillé, the work sought to offer a refined biblical text, following the Vulgate but collated with the best manuscripts and translations available at the time. Its purpose was to present a more faithful and critical Bible, in line with the humanist ideals of the Renaissance, which aimed to return to the original sources, that is, in this case, to the earliest copies and translations of the biblical texts in Hebrew, Greek, and Chaldean (Aramaic). This orientation is reflected, for example, in the glossary of Hebrew, Chaldean, and Greek names included in the 1566’s edition by Guillaume Rouillé.
Comparison between the text of the Vulgate and the text of Rouillé’s Bible edition
Chapter 37
1Habitavit autem Jacob in terra Chanaan, in qua pater suus peregrinatus est.
2 Et hae sunt generationes ejus: Joseph cum sedecim esset annorum, pascebat gregem cum fratribus suis adhuc puer: et erat cum filiis Balae et Zelphae uxorum patris sui: accusavitque fratres suos apud patrem crimine pessimo.
3 Israel autem diligebat Joseph super omnes filios suos, eo quod in senectute genuisset eum: fecitque ei tunicam polymitam.
4 Videntes autem fratres ejus quod a patre plus cunctis filiis amaretur, oderant eum, nec poterant ei quidquam pacifice loqui.
5 Accidit quoque ut visum somnium referret fratribus suis: quae causa majoris odii seminarium fuit.
6 Dixitque ad eos: Audite somnium meum quod vidi:
7 putabam nos ligare manipulos in agro: et quasi consurgere manipulum meum, et stare, vestrosque manipulos circumstantes adorare manipulum meum.
8 Responderunt fratres ejus: Numquid rex noster eris? aut subjiciemur ditioni tuae? Haec ergo causa somniorum atque sermonum, invidiae et odii fomitem ministravit.
Biblia Sacra Vulgata
Genesis 37: 1-8
About the illustrations in the Biblia Sacra ad optima
Another point to highlight is the wood engravings that accompany the edition, which turn the volume into a significant testimony of Renaissance typographic art. While in Jean de Tournes’s edition the engravings were executed by Bernard Salomon, also known as Le Petit Bernard, and were characterized mainly by their elegant style; in Rouillé’s edition the engravings were produced by Pierre Eskrich, Salomon’s disciple, who imitated his work to such an extent that it is difficult to distinguish between the engravings of one and the other. However, in the 1566’s edition these illustrations are smaller, since they are distributed throughout the biblical text arranged in two columns, and way more abundant; making easier to distinguish them from Salomon’s engravings.
Joseph profesies depictions in Rouillé’s Bible
The vast majority of the illustrations in the Bible depict the episode narrated in the biblical passage, thereby fulfilling an illustrative and didactic function of the stories, as can be observed in the following engravings of Joseph’s interpretation to Pharaoh of his dreams and the prophecy of the years of abundance and famine. This strategy of illustrating the most important actions and passages of the scriptures is replicated in the hole story of Joseph, but also in most of the stories of the Old Testament, obtaining an average of 3 to 5 pictures per chapter. However, this abundance of engravings turns into a complete emptiness or lack of pictures for the Salmes and the New Testament in the copie founded in the Centre Diocésian.
A curious aspect of the engravings is that, in some of them, we can observe correspondences with paintings of the period, which reveals the constant intercommunication and cross-reference among the different arts of illustration. It is possible that the painter took the engraving as a reference, or vice versa, as happens in the following case with the illustration of Joseph’s prophetic dream when he was a child and told it to his brothers. But one sure thing is that these pictures, by paintings reproductions, templates or printed editions, were constantly circulating at the time and formed part of the artistic-religious imagenary not only of Europe but also of the Americas.
c. 16th century
1566
Bibliography:
Museo de Ferias. (2016). Biblia Sacra [PDF]. Museo de Ferias. Retrieved December 4, 2025, from https://www.museoferias.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Biblia-Sacra.pdf
LOT 286 – Bible [Latin]. Biblia Sacra…, Lyon, 1566. https://www.dominicwinter.co.uk/Auction/Lot/lot-286—bible-latin-biblia-sacra-lyon-1566/?lot=348689&sd=1.
Gao, J. (2019). Guillaume Roville et Benoît Rigaud (1545–1597). Politiques éditoriales, contraintes économiques et ambitions culturelles en France dans la seconde moitié du seizième siècle (Doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago). Retrieved December 4, 2025, from file:///C:/Users/Nicole%20Ponce/Downloads/Gao_uchicago_0330D_14851.pdf
