Bible, Italian.-  Malermi Bible Byblia in vulgar ultimamente impressa, ornata intorno de moral postille e figure, 2 parts in one, lacking a1, LL1, LL7-8 (title?, 2 leaves of index, colophon), several leaves mis-numbered, 60 lines, double column, side notes, includes original cancel slips to Book ofNehemiah. chapters 4 & 5 (f8r), illustrated with embellished initials and numerous woodcut illustrations of the narrative, including God's Creation at the beginning of Genesis, within elaborate architectural border, with classical sea gods, putti, bucrania, and urns, a large woodcut of King Solomon enthroned, at the beginning of the Book of Proverbs, a sundial, Jonah and the whale, the Apocalypse beast, etc., leaves restored and washed throughout, some with evident loss of text, index rather defective, few tiny marginal paper flaws in places, light age yellowing, occasional staining, rebound in modern blind tooled calf, new endpapers, [Darlow & Moule 5576 (note); Sander, I, 178; not in Adams]  folio (288 x 200mm), Lazaro de Soardi & Bernardino Benali, Venice,1517.  *** Very rare (only 5 copies recorded in Italy, none elsewhere) finely illustrated edition of the ‘Malermi Bible’ (first published in Venice in 1490 by Lucantonio Giunta), with the blocks used by Guglielmo Anima Mia for the 1493 edition (see Edoardo Barbieri, “Le edizioni illustrate della Bibbia volgare (1490-1517): appunti sulle imagini di traduttori”, in “La Bibliofilia”, 92, 1990, 1, pp. 1-21). The illustrations can be considered examples of the 'golden age' of Venetian book illustration. The camaldolese monk of the order of Benedictines, Niccolò Malermi (1422-81) and his collaborators, Lorenzo from Venice and Girolamo Squarciafico, were the first to translate the Vulgate from Latin into Italian vernacular. The text includes the Old and New Testament and the letter of Saint Paul. Malermi’s ‘Biblia Vulgare’ was completed over an eight-month period. It first appeared in 1471 (Goff B-640) and is considered his greatest accomplishment. The publication in Italian reflects the rise of the vernacular and the demand for religious texts to be available in common languages. The work was published at a time when Venice was the centre of the Italian book trade and was not intended for an elite audience but rather designed for the wealthy middle class. Malermi’s Bible rapidly achieved popularity. At least ten editions appeared before the end of the 15th century, and it was often reprinted down to 1567. The translation was mostly accepted by the ecclesiastical authorities, however, the anonymous marginal glosses, reprinted until 1535, disappeared afterwards. Our copy preserves some contemporary, possibly censored, text passages.