incunabulum

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Latin incūnābulumbor. English incunabulum Borrowed from Latin incūnābulum (“cradle, origin”).

1. A book, single sheet, or image that was printed before the year 1501 in Europe.

   “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.”

2. The cradle, birthplace, or origin of something.