A collection of 400 Old Testament illustrations from Christoph Weigel the Elder’s (1654-1725) celebrated Biblia Ectypa joins the rare book holdings at DePaul University Special Collections and Archives. This generous gift of alumnus John Markay will serve as an exemplar of German Baroque art, early modern printing techniques, and Biblical studies for students, faculty, and scholars.
Printed in Augsburg, one of the early modern print capitals of Germany, the Biblia Ectypa expands upon a long tradition of picture Bibles that first became popular in the Middle Ages, known as Biblia pauperum or “Paupers’ Bible.” These early precedents were commonly printed from woodcuts and consisted of Our Lord’s Life, scenes from the Old Testament, and pictures of the prophets. Weigel’s vision and skilled use of copperplate engraving, however, elevate the pictorial Bible to new artistic heights. Differing from an illustrated Bible where the images are subordinated to the text, a picture Bible selects popular narratives and depicts their actions in a series. Working with artists George Christoph Eimmart the Younger and Johann Jacob von Sandrart, Weigel’s designs for the 1695 Biblia Ectypa contains the Biblical citation and a short Latin caption above the illustration with a longer quotation from the German Bible below. Wildly successful, theBiblia Ectypa enabled Weigel to establish his own print publishing firm in Nuremberg where he was joined by his younger brother Johann Christoph Weigel and worked closely with the prominent map publisher, Johann Baptist Homann. As a testament to the captivating imagery, a second edition was printed almost a century later in 1787.
While these engravings are certainly rare, Special Collections and Archives encourages the use of our materials by classes and individuals. In addition to its value for DePaul’s Art History and Religious Studies departments, Weigel’s Genesis series of illustrations complements our collection of illustrated works of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, specifically the 1688 Tonson folio edition frequently used by classes in the English department. Geography scholarship will also benefit by the contextualization between Weigel’s engraved scenes and the maps commissioned by Homann.
Special Collections and Archives is honored to receive this gift. For additional information about these Weigel engravings, or other rare book or archival materials, contact Special Collections and Archives at archives@depaul.edu or stop by our department in the John T. Richardson Library, Room 314.
About John Markay
In addition to John’s generous contribution of Biblia Ectypa to Special Collections, he created the John Markay Endowed Scholarship in the College of Science and Health to honor his deceased son, Jack. Jack died at a very young age and John wanted to honor his spirit and his legacy. Jack worked in Radiology at Alexian Brothers and he attended medical school in the Dominican Republic. John included preferences in the scholarship for students studying science, preferably graduating from Harper College or working at Alexian Brothers.
John is a 1949 graduate of the Driehaus College of Business. He worked as an insurance broker and had his own agency before opening up a very successful real estate company, Gladstone Realty, in Franklin Park, Illinois. His partner was fellow DePaul graduate Vincent Bolger and they were in business together for over 30 years. They dissolved the partnership about 25 years ago. John is mostly retired but still works on some corporate real estate development projects with his sons, Bob and Dale. John has two other children, Barbara and Roger, and two grandchildren, Melanie and Melissa. Melanie is a senior at DePaul in the Honors Program, majoring in Finance and minoring in Accounting. She accepted an offer from the firm Crowe Horvath, and upon graduating, she will be a staff member in the Anti-Money Laundering Group.