Plantin and Montanus - Biblia Regia printed on vellum - The Phoebus Foundation

With Koen Fillet and Dirk Imhof, former curator of books and archives at the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp.

In this Phoebus Focus episode, Dr Dirk Imhof outlines the context and significance of Christophe Plantin’s Biblia Regia on vellum, one of the most impressive book printing projects of the Renaissance.


Row of matching red leather-bound volumes with gilt titles on the spines, labeled Biblia Regia, arranged as a multi-volume set (Vols. I–VII) neatly aligned on a shelf.
Double-page spread from the Biblia Regia showing parallel columns in Syriac, Latin, Greek, and Chaldean, printed in distinct typefaces with decorative initials and marginal notes.
A Page of Syriac, Latin, Greek and Aramaic from the New Testament. In: Biblia Regia on Vellum, Antwerp (Christophe Plantin), 1568-1572
Detail of the top edge of the Biblia Regia on parchment, showing the title inked onto the rippled paper layers of an eighteenth-century leather binding.
Biblia Regia on Vellum, Bound in an Eighteenth-Century Leather Binding, Antwerp (Christphe Plantin), 1568-1572
Title page of the New Testament from the Biblia Regia on parchment, featuring Greek, Syriac, and Latin text, printed by Christoffel Plantin in Antwerp, 1568–1572.
Title Page of the New Testament. In: Biblia Regia on Vellum, Antwerp (Christophe Plantin), 1568-1572
Title page of the Pentateuch from the Biblia Regia (Polyglot Bible), featuring Hebrew and Latin text within an elaborate architectural frame, printed by Christoffel Plantin in Antwerp, 1568–1572.
Title Page of the Pentateuch, In: Biblia Regia on Vellum, Antwerp (Christophe Plantin), 1568-1572

Want to know more? Order the accompanying Phoebus Focus publication!