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Martin Luther used the bible for more than just reading: he also made numerous annotations in the margins. The pages of his bible are filled with comments that offer a fascinating picture of his response to the text, including frequent outbursts of anger to Desiderius Erasmus, his colleague as a biblical scholar. This unique copy is now for the first time fully and openly accessible. It forms a new tool for international research into Luther, Erasmus and bible reading in the age of the Reformation.

Martin Luther is famous as the reformer from Wittenberg whose critical theses (1517) caused a crisis in the Christian Church that eventually led to the rise of Protestantism. But he was also a translator whose German version of the Bible made the book of books accessible to a much larger readership. In collaboration with the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� Library Groningen, researchers from Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� have now made accessible a unique document of his biblical studies: one of Luther’s own copies of the bible. This item, preserved in Groningen, includes the Greek text of the New Testament and the Latin translation by Erasmus (as published in Basel, 1527).

In the margins: Luther shouting at Erasmus

In the margins of this work it becomes clear how critical Luther was of Erasmus: several times he lashes out at his famous contemporary (“What use is such rubbish?”; “You’re crazy!”; “Die!”). Occasionally he is more appreciative (“Nicely put”). After Luther’s death the book was given to the Dutch scholar Regnerus Praedinius who again used the margins to express his ideas. In his turn Praedinius is often critical of Luther, expressing his support to Erasmus. In this way, the margins of the book reveal a lively discussion between theologians about the Scriptures and the best way to read them.

Research about the history of reading

The digital publication of Luther’s bible is part of the collaborative research project , coordinated by Prof. (Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��) and funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. This project focuses on the history of reading in the first ages after the introduction of print. Historians and librarians from Utrecht, Amsterdam, Ghent, London, Princeton and York work together, collecting and studying books that contain unique traces of readers. On Annotated Books Online users can view these items but also contribute by deciphering and translating annotations.