incunabulum

Definitions

1. A book, single sheet, or image that was printed before the year 1501 in Europe.
2. The cradle, birthplace, or origin of something.
   in-plural

Equivalents

Examples

“Sebastian, a profound student of such lore, had long believed that the book was a mere medieval legend; and he had been startled as well as gratified when he found this copy⟳ on the shelves of a dealer in old manuscripts and incunabula.”

“Something about him reminded me of one of those figures from old-fashioned playing cards or the sort⟳ used by fortune-tellers, a print⟳ straight from the pages of an incunabulum: his presence was both funereal and incandescent, like⟳ a curse dressed in its Sunday best.”

CEFR level