One of the last 48 copies of the Gutenberg Bible to survive
In 1454 or 1455 Johannes Gutenberg the first copies of the Bible were made avialable. This was the first printed document created by movable type, an invention that made possible the mass distribution of books and the beginning of the age of learning (the European Renaissance).
Here are some facts about the Gutenberg Bible
- 48 copies survive
-2 have rubrication (an experiment that was quickly abandoned)
- 9 still have their original 15thC covers
- The wide margins allowed space for illumination which was added by artists at the time, 30 of the 48 have decoration
- Early printers were impoverished, the invention increased the price of already scarce paper and sent it through the roof. 80% of the cost of 15thC books was the cost of paper. Some Gutenberg bibles were printed on vellum (12 of which survive).
- The bible was bound in two volumes, the vellum copies (due to the thickness of vellum) were bound in three or four volumes
- It was sold out within days and cost 30 florins (today about $60,000), the main clients were monastries.
- Only 21 of the surviving copies are complete
- It can be viewed at the Library of Congress
- The last complete copy to be sold was in 1978 for $2.2M, today individual leaves sell for $20,000 to $100,000 depending on condition. Today it is estimated if a complete
copy was sold it would fetch $15-$20M
Printing the Bible
