Gutenberg Bible
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 Johannes Gutenberg, in Mainz, Germany in the fifteenth century.
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The 42-line Bible
The name 42-line Bible refers to the number of lines of print on each page, and is used to differentiate this edition of the Gutenberg Bible from the rarer 36-line Bible, which is also referred to as a Gutenberg Bible.[1] (Mostly, "Gutenberg Bible" refers to the more familiar 42-line one, though there is scope for some confusion.)
The print run started on February 23, 1455, using movable 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 the typefaces that would become known as Textura and Schwabacher.
A complete copy comprises 1282 pages; most were bound in two or more volumes.
It is believed that about 180 copies of the Bible were produced, 45 on vellum and 135 on paper, a number which marks a sharp contrast with the prior technology for 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 a year, the time it would have taken to produce one copy in a Scriptorium. Because of the hand illumination, each copy is unique.
In some copies of the Bible, the headings on a few of the sheets at the top are printed in red; the initial pages were re-composed, and the later copies for those pages are in black only, with the red headers lettered by hand. On all later pages the red headings are added by hand, and a printed list of the text to be added to each page survives. This presumably represents a failed experiment. (Kapr, "Johannes Gutenberg." Scolar, 1996)
The 36-line Bible
In the past, there was no consensus on the order of editions. Some specialists like Richard Schwab and Thomas Cahill argued that the rarer 36-line Bible is actually the older, cruder version, and that the 42-line Bible was a second, more numerous and perfected edition of Gutenbergs Bible.[2]. Others, like Richard W. Clement, argued that the 36-line Bible was printed in 1458, 3 years after the 42-line Bible, but with an older typefont.[3] The dispute has however been settled, because the line endings on the pages of the 36 line Bible make it evident that the text is based on a copy of the 42-line Bible. (Kapr, "Johannes Gutenberg." Scolar, 1996)
Known locations of Gutenberg Bibles
As of 2003, the number of known extant Gutenberg 42-line 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.
Austria (1)
Belgium (1)
- Bibliothèque universitaire in Mons (a second copy at Leuven University was destroyed)
Denmark (1)
France (3)
- Bibliothèque nationale in Paris (one of three "perfect vellum" copies)
- Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris
- Bibliothèque Municipale in Saint-Omer
Germany (12)
- 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
Vatican City (2)
- Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana (one vellum copy, one on paper)
Japan (1)
Poland (1)
- Biblioteka Seminarium Duchownego in Pelpin
Portugal (1)
- Portuguese national library in Lisbon
Russia (2)
Spain (2)
Switzerland (1)
- Bibliotheca Bodmeriana in Cologny
United Kingdom (8)
- 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
A later book from Gutenberg's workshop , the Mainz Psalter, has initial capitals with parts in both blue and red, apparently added as metal inserts in a single printing. A few later incunabla also have colour printing. Apparently the method was too inefficient, too slow for actual use and printers soon discarded the idea. After all, the main idea in printing was mass production. Printed colour did not reappear until the 19th century.
In the movie The Day after Tomorrow the copy possessed 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 significance, rather than the religious one.
In the 1920s a New York book dealer, Gabriel Wells, bought a damaged paper copy, dismantled the book and sold sections and individual leaves to book collectors and libraries. The leaves were sold in a portfolio case with an essay written by A. Edward Newton. [4] (Also referred to as a "Noble Fragment") These leaves now sell for $20,000 - $100,000 - depending upon condition and the desirability of the page.
Notes
- ^ Plantin-Moretus museum
- ^ Time Magazine, March 10, 1986
- ^ Orb Online Encyclopedia
- ^ Kenyon College Library http://lbis.kenyon.edu/sca/exhibits/incunabula/z241b58.phtml
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
A complete link list of digitized copies can be found in the German wikipedia.[1]
Categories
1450s books | Bible versions and translations | Incunabula | Mainz