The Gutenberg Bible
Generally Considered to be the First Mass-Produced Book
The Gutenberg Bible is one of the most well-known rare books in the world. With only 48 of them in existence today, they still represent the dawn of the printing press.
The Gutenberg Bible is nearly synonymous with the phrase “rare book”. Unlike most rare or obscure books, most people have heard of Gutenberg Bibles though they may not be familiar with the meaning or history behind these works of literary art.
Who Was Gutenberg?
Johannes Gutenberg is the man who created the process of printing by mechanical means with movable type, an innovation that changed the concept of publishing forever. Previously, books were hand-written, making them expensive and scarce. He lived in the first half of the 1400s, and was born in Germany with the full name of Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg. His first major project using his new process was the printing of the Bible. Remaining copies today are given his name.
An Illuminated Manuscript
The Gutenberg Bible is was is known as an “illuminated manuscript”, meaning that the pages of text are heavily decorated with engravings, flourished initials and stylish borders. Small portraits or miniatures are painted on pages of particular importance. Though the text was printed mechanically, all of the additional illumination was done by hand.
Gutenberg started producing his Bibles in 1450, with the first ones being available in 1454. These were not the very first works every printed using the Gutenberg movable type system, as many believe. The Bible was the first major and commercial project, but other manuscripts had been printed earlier. Most of the earlier printings were of small Latin schoolbooks, or grammars.
The books were approximately 1282 pages long, often bound as two volumes. Some of the Bibles are printed on paper and some on vellum (fine calf's skin), and there are some editions that include only the Old or New Testament. The typeface of these books is called “textura”, made up of very bold horizontal and vertical strokes.
There are 2 variations of the Gutenberg Bible, the 42-line and the 36-line. The 42-line version is the most common, and few people make distinctions between the two when talking about Gutenberg Bibles. The terms refer to the number of lines of text on each page.
How Rare is a Gutenberg Bible?
There are 48 known copies of the 42-line version of Gutenberg's Bible, remaining from the approximately 180 copies originally created. Some sources say that only 158 copies were ever made. Aside from the complete manuscripts, some pages and sections are held by collectors from previously damaged books. Copies of the books are kept in libraries around the world, including New York, Paris, Munich and Tokyo. The last sale involving a Gutenberg Bible was in 1999, when a single page was sold for $26,000.
Though you may never get a chance to see a copy first-hand, you can view scanned pages from several different copies online. You can even see the pages from two versions at once, for comparison.
Sources:
* Wikipedia articles on Johannes Gutenberg, the Gutenberg Bible, and illuminated manuscripts
* British Library online
* Clausen Books Gutenberg Bible Census
