BIBLIA PAUPERUM. — A devotional book containing representations of the principal scenes of the life of Jesus, depicted according to the medieval concept—that is, according to the typology of the *Concordantia Veteris et Novi Testamenti*—with stories from the Old Testament and accompanied by figures of prophets. The conventional term *B. p.* was adopted after the composition of the book, and therefore does not indicate its authentic title; it refers not so much to the "poor in spirit" as to poor clerics who lacked the means to procure a complete Bible and yet had to provide themselves with the minimum necessary to know, teach, and preach the Holy Scriptures. This intended use is perhaps confirmed by the fact that some versions of the text exist in German and other languages. The original author of the work can no longer be traced, but it can be dated to the late 13th century and attributed to a Benedictine convent in Bavaria; the original edition probably comprised 38 groups of images, each of which united one scene from the New Testament with two parallel scenes from the Old Testament and four figures of prophets.
The general scheme of the aforementioned compendium is preserved for us: 1) by no fewer than 68 manuscripts from the 14th and 15th centuries, all originating from Upper Germany or Austria, and divisible, according to the selection, order, and graphic arrangement of the individual scenes, into various classes; 2) by several editions of block-books: one of these, originating from Upper Rhenish and preserved in the unique copy in Heidelberg, contains the manuscript text; among the others, those produced in the Low Countries predominate; two bear German signatures (there is also a late Italian imitation: *Opera nuova contemplativa*, Venice 1510); 3) by books printed with movable type: for example, the three editions by the printer Pfister (Bamberg), which may chronologically precede the other specimens.
