Gutenberg Bible
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The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, and as the Mazarin Bible) is a print of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible that was printed by its namesake, Johann Gutenberg, in Mainz, Germany. The print run started on February 23, 1455, using moveable type. This Bible is the most famous incunabulum and its production marked the beginning of the mass production of books in the West. It was printed in Textura and Schwabacher.
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, 45 on vellum and 135 on paper, a number which boggled minds in societies which, from time immemorial, had to produce copies of written works laboriously 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 eleven 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 twelve. Four cities have two copies: Paris, Moscow, Mainz and Vatican City; London has three copies plus the Bagford Fragment; New York has four copies.
Known locations of Gutenberg Bibles
Austria (1)
Belgium (1)- Bibliotheque Universitaire in Mons
Denmark (1)
France (3)- Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris (one of three "perfect vellum" copies)
- Bibliotheque Mazarine in Paris
- Bibliotheque Municipale in Saint-Omer
- Gutenberg Museum in Mainz (2 copies)
- Landesbibliothek in Fulda
- Universitätsbibliothek in Leipzig
- Niedersächsische Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek in Göttingen
- Staatsbibliothek in Berlin
- Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich
- Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek in Frankfurt-am-Main
- Hofbibliothek in Aschaffenburg
- Württembergische Landesbibliothek in Stuttgart
- Stadtbibliothek in Trier
- Landesbibliothek in Kassel
- Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana (one vellum copy, one on paper)
Japan (1)
Poland (1)- Biblioteka Seminarium Duchownego in Pelpin
- Portuguese national library in Lisbon
Switzerland (1)
- Bibliotheca Bodmeriana in Cologny
- British Library in London (one of three "perfect vellum" copies, one paper copy and the Bagford Fragment)
- Lambeth Palace Library in London (decorated in England)
- Bodleian Library in Oxford
- University Library in Cambridge
- Eton College Library in Eton
- 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 (one copy on vellum, 2 copies on paper)
- Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut
- The Scheide Library at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey
- Indiana University Library at Indiana University Bloomington in Bloomington, Indiana (incomplete NT only)
- Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas
- Henry E. Huntington Library in San Marino, California
- Bill Gates (Microsoft co-founder) owns a copy purchased from auction in 1994 at a cost of $30.8 million (USD).
Trivia
In the movie The Day after Tomorrow the copy posessed by the New York Public Library was likely the only book saved from the library in the evacuation of New York City due to a self professed fan of books wishing to preserve it on the basis of its historical signifigance, rather than the religious one.External links
- [Treasures in Full: Gutenberg Bible] Complete digitized texts of the two Gutenberg bibles in the British Library
- [The University of Texas Ransom Center's Gutenberg Bible website including detailed images]
- [Online digital edition]
- [Gutenberg site made by the city of Mainz]
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