Ars minor.

Many of the Donatus editions printed with the Gutenberg Bible type contain either red-printed or, as here, red and blue-printed initials. The initials are those originally used in printing the Fust and Schoeffer Mainz Psalters of 1457 and 1459. The 5-line initial of the present fragment consists of two parts: the lombard initial proper, printed in red; and a background plate printed in blue, decorated with raised ornament in the manner of manuscript pen-flourishing. The three colors of the page, black, red, and blue, were printed at a single pull of the press. After each impression, the initial was apparently removed from the type page, and each of its two parts was carefully re-inked, and then reinserted: a slow process. Although the present fragment has a gap of about 3 cm between the two halves of the leaf, it is clear that when new, this edition, although of a utilitarian schoolbook, would have been an elegant and imposing work.