Gutenberg Bible
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The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible) is a print of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible that was printed by its namesake, Johann Gutenberg, in Mainz, Germany using moveable type, mass-produced starting on February 23, 1455. This Bible is the most famous incunabulum and its production marked the beginning of the mass production of books in the West.
A very complete copy comprises 1282 pages; most were bound in two volumes.
It is believed that about 180 copies of the Bible were produced, 40 on vellum and 140 on paper, a number which boggled minds in societies which, from time immemorial, had to produce copies of written works labouriously by hand. Gutenberg produced these Bibles (which were printed, then rubricated and illuminated by hand), over a period of three years, the time it would have taken to produce one copy in a Scriptorium. Because of the hand illumination, each copy is unique. Two-color printing techniques, which would have eliminated the need for rubrication, were developed later. As of 2003, the number of known extant Gutenberg Bibles includes 11 complete copies on vellum, one copy of the New Testament only on vellum, and 48 substantially complete integral copies on paper, with another divided copy on paper. The country with the most copies is Germany, which has 12. Five cities have two copies - Paris, London, New York, Leipzig, and Moscow.
Locations of Gutenberg Bibles
Austria (3)
Belgium (3)
France (3)
- Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris (One of three "perfect vellum" copies)
- Bibliotheque Mazarine in Paris
- Bibliotheque Municipale in St. Omer
Germany (12)
- Gutenberg Museum in Mainz
- Landesbibliothek in Fulda
- Karl Marx Universitatsbibliothek in Leipzig
- Deutsches Buch- und Schrift Museum der Deutschen Bücherei in Leipzig
- Universitatsbibliothek in Gottingen
- Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin
- Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich
- Stadt- und Universitatsbibliothek in Frankfurt-am-Main
- Hofbibliothek in Aschaffenburg
- Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek in Stuttgart
- Stadtbibliothek in Trier
- Landesbibliothek in Kassel
Italy/Vatican City (1)
Japan (1)
Poland (1)
Portugal (1)
Russia (2)
Spain (2)
Switzerland (1)
United Kingdom (7)
- British Library in London (One of three "perfect vellum" copies)
- Lambeth Palace Library in London
- Bodleian Library in Oxford
- University Library in Cambridge
- Eton College Library in Eton
- The John Rylands Library in Manchester
- National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh
- Library of Congress in Washington, DC (One of three "perfect vellum" copies)
- New York Public Library in New York City
- Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City
- Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Beineke Rare Books Library at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut
- The Scheide Library in Princeton, New Jersey
- Indiana University Library at Indiana University Bloomington in Bloomington, Indiana
- Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas
- Henry E. Huntington Library in San Marino, California
External links
- The British Library's The Gutenberg Bible website (http://www.bl.uk/treasures/gutenberg/homepage.html)
- The University of Texas Ransom Center's Gutenberg Bible website including detailed images (http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenberg/)
- Online digital edition (http://www.gutenbergdigital.de/gudi/eframes/texte/inhalt.htm)
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