Biblia: das ist: Die gantze heilige Schrifft: Deudsch. Doct. Mart. Luther by Luther, Martin, translator - 1555

Folio, bound in contemporary leather, clasps and catches lacking; considerable external wear; contents lightly soiled throughout, with increased wear and soil to initial 50 leaves and final 20 leaves; initial title page remounted with loss to margins; first five leaves of text repaired in margins; insect holes to initial 20 leaves and final 20 leaves. All repairs appear to be fairly old. Pagination: 6 unnumbered leaves including overall title page in red and black, 344 numbered leaves; title to part two in red and black ("Propheten," but includes Apocrypha and New Testament), 2-387 numbered leaves. Collates as follows: )(6; A-Z6;a-z6; AA-KK6; LL8;A-Z6; a-z6; AA-SS6; TT3. All leaves are present, but in part one, leaf 3 (A3) is bound after leaf 5 (A5), and in part two, leaf 375 (R3) is bound after leaf 376 (R4).
Hans Lufft of Wittenberg published the first complete Luther Bible in 1534 and from then on was the only printer authorized by Luther. Starting with the 1541 edition, Lufft Bibles included Luther's "Warnung wider den Geiz," alerting readers to the existence of pirate editions. Lufft printed over 100,000 copies in numerous editions before his death in 1584. All of Lufft's Bibles are folios of approximately the same size; this one measures 9 x 13.5 inches. Lufft printed them in two parts, Genesis through the Song of Solomon, and Isaiah through Revelation (with the Apocrypha between the OT and the NT). Most extant copies, like this one, have both parts bound together in a single volume, with a general title page, "Biblia: das ist: Die gantze heilige Schrifft," at the beginning of the first part and a title page at the beginning of the second part that only refers to "Die Propheten."