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Gutenberg Bible
Biblia Latina  1455–1456
Reproduced by courtesy of the Director and Librarian,
the John Rylands University Library of Manchester

 

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John Rylands University Library of Manchester
United Kingdom

Gutenberg Bible
1455–1456

This beautiful book was produced by the first large scale use of printing with movable type in the Western world. One of the world's greatest inventions, the technology was developed by Johann Gutenberg, who was born in Mainz but moved to Strasbourg in about 1428. By 1438 he was working with three partners on a secret project, the development of the printing process, and in particular the use of movable type: individual letters arranged as required for a text, and able to be re-arranged for a later text. The letters had to be consistent in size and shape so that they could be locked securely together for the printing, and a crucial part of the process was the casting of type so that the body of each piece would line up correctly with its fellows. The typeface was modelled on the script then in use in Germany for writing liturgical manuscripts. The development was a long process, and by 1448 Gutenberg was borrowing large sums of money from a lawyer, Johann Fust, to perfect the work. In 1455, close to the time that the Bible was ready for sale, Fust foreclosed on the loans he had made, and Gutenberg lost control of his invention.

Printing allowed the written word to be reproduced and disseminated quickly, cheaply and in enormous quantities. Within 50 years of the printing of this Bible, more than ten million printed books had been produced, and printing presses existed in virtually every European country. Its impact on all areas of human society was far greater than that induced by the arrival of the World Wide Web.

Although the text of this book is printed, the illuminations were added by hand, as in a manuscript. It contains 1282 pages. Between 180 and 200 copies of the Gutenberg Bible were printed, of which 51 still exist, only 20 of which (the copy on display being one) are complete. The pages on display in the exhibition are the first chapters of two Old Testament Books, 'Judges' and 'Nahum'.