500 Years On: Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation
de Beer Gallery, Special Collections, University of Otago, Dunedin, NZ
Opens 24 March, 2017 and runs to 9 June, 2017

Our exhibition offers an overview of what was a massive revolution that occurred in Europe. The books on display are from Special Collections, University of Otago, the Hewitson Library, Knox College, Dunedin, and a private collection. Some of the items that will be on show include our Nuremberg Chronicle, printed in 1493; a late 15th century medieval Book of Hours; a sheet of Koberger’s German Bible, printed in 1483, an early guidebook to Rome (1515), and most notably, a rare Latin Bible (1481) that contains fragments of indulgences printed by William Caxton. Luther’s own work features, including his Deuteronomy (1525), his Works (1550), and a facsimile of his Bible, Die Propheten Alle Deutsch [1534; 1935]. Works by Johannes Cochlaeus, Erasmus, and Philip Melanchthon also feature. Also on display are colourful facsimile leaflets (flugblatt) from the period. They include Weiditz’s ‘Käsebauer und Käsefrau’ [Cheesemaker and his wife] (1521) and Erhard Schön’s ‘Der Teufel mit der Sackpfeife’ [The Devil playing the Bagpipe], 1535.

For a handlist of books/manuscripts, click here.