Speculum Humanae Salvationis: a Dutch Blockbook

Blockbooks are short books, usually of a religious nature, printed with woodcuts in Europe during the second half of the 15th century. Created by printing two pages on one folio that was then folded in half and sewn together with other folios to create a simple binding, their purpose was to serve as a cheap alternative to typeset books, which were still very expensive. They are extremely rare today with most existing only as fragments, but this Speculum Humanae Salvationis or “Mirror of Human Salvation” created in the Netherlands ca. 1468–79 has survived as a complete codex with 58 woodcuts illustrating the text written in two columns, always in the upper third of the page.
Despite the quality of the woodcuts’ design, which set biblical events in the 15th century and thus give a glimpse of contemporary day-to-day life, the master who designed them remains unknown. Brown ink was used for the illustrations while black ink was used for the text printed in a Gothic script using movable type except for some initials in red ink. Ludolph of Saxony has been presented by researchers as a possible author of the work, but this has never been proven with certainty.