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The Grenville copy is sometimes identified with a copy previously belonging to the Carthusians in Mainz. This is based on a letter from Gerhard Meerman of 1770 (published by Emil Jacobs in Zentralblatt für Bibliothekswesen, 21 (1910), pp. 159-160), who identified the copy of the Bible printed on vellum bound in two volumes sold at the sale of Louis Jean Gaignat with a copy allegedly taken from the Mainz Carthusians to France by J. B. Maugérard in 1767.
The Grenville copy was certainly the one owned
by Louis Jean Gaignat (died 1768) (see Supplément à la bibliographie
instructive, ou Catalogue des livres du cabinet de feu M. Louis Jean
Gaignat (Paris: G. F. De Bure, April 1769), volume I, pp. 6-7, lot
16). The copy was bought at Gaignat's sale by Paul Girardot de Préfond
for 2100 francs and 1 sou.
Around 1775 it was acquired by Justin MacCarthy-Reagh (1744-1811)
from Girardot de Préfond, according to Seymour De Ricci, Catalogue
raisonné des premières impressions de Mayence (1445-1467), Veröffentlichungen
der Gutenberg-Gesellschaft, 8-9 (Mainz, 1911), p. 28, no. 1.
At MacCarthy-Reagh's sale in 1817 it was sold for 6260 francs (see
Catalogue des livres rares et précieux ... de feu M. le comte de Mac-Carthy
Reagh (Paris: De Bure, 1815, sale: Jan. 1817), volume I, pp. 10-11,
lot 61) to Thomas Grenville (1755-1846) (see Bibliotheca Grenvilliana
or, Bibliographical notices of rare and curious books, forming part
of the library of Thomas Grenville (London 1842-72), volume I, p.
74).
Thomas Grenville bequeathed it to the British Museum in 1846.
See Paul Schwenke, 'Die Gutenbergbibel', in: Johannes Gutenbergs zweiundvierzigzeilige
Bibel: Ergänzungsband zur Faksimile-Ausgabe (Leipzig, 1923), no. 29
at pp. 14-15.
Ilona Hubay, 'Die bekannten Exemplare der zweiundvierzigzeiligen Bibel
und ihre Besitzer', in: Johannes Gutenbergs zweiundvierzigzeilige
Bibel, Faksimile-Ausgabe nach dem Exemplar der Staatsbibliothek preußischer
Kulturbesitz Berlin: Kommentarband, ed. W. Schmidt and F. A. Schmidt-Künsemüller
(Munich, 1979), 127--55, at p. 142.
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