Which came first, the Gospels or the Septuagint? Remember, "tradition" doesn't count. What is the earliest hard copy of the Septuagint?
Available today, you mean. This may be true as the library in Alexandria was burned t to the ground.
Which came first, the Gospels or the Septuagint?
The Septuagint was first, since it was written before Christ's birth and was well known by the Jewish diaspora.
That's interesting. The Dead Sea Scrolls date to between 170BC and 70AD. They include the Apocrypha in the LXX translation. Or are you "spinning" (in the correct definition of course) looking only for a complete LXX?
The Bible is written Tradition, which began as oral Tradition. Jesus didn't hand over a completed New Testament to the Apostles.
In fact, the Bible doesn't record Jesus commissioning the Apostles to write a New Testament. The Great Commission was to "go and make Apostles of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit."
The Apostles were expecting the Second Coming within their lifetimes. When they realized that that might not happen, they began to record Jesus' life and teachings in writing, facts that had previously been passed on orally. A consensus regarding which books constituted Sacred Scripture later emerged, but many books were disputed. The canon of Scripture wasn't formally declared by the Church until around the year 400 A.D., in several Church Councils. It is the canon used by Catholics today.