Heinrich Stockheim (1531/2–1588), curator of Mainz Cathedral, made the first inscription, dated 1566. It appears at the bottom margin of the first leaf. There is no indication if his delivery of the Bible to the cathedral was a gift or a loan.

In 1631, the Bible was removed from Mainz Cathedral by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (reigned 1611-1632) during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). The King gave the book to an officer in his military corps, Duke of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar. The Giant Bible was part of the entire cathedral library carried off by Gustavus Adolphus and this event is recorded in an article by Franz Falk published in 1897. The Bible passed through Duke Bernhard’s family into the library of his descendants, the Dukes of Gotha, where it is thought to have remained for several hundred years. A library stamp in black ink appears on the first leaf.

In 1951, the Bible was purchased from the descendents of the Dukes of Gotha by H. P. Kraus, a bookseller from New York, and sold to Lessing J. Rosenwald.

In 1952, Lessing J. Rosenwald gave the Bible to the Library of Congress.