What is the value of a Gutenberg Bible?
Throughout the world, only 48 Gutenberg Bibles, the first books printed by movable type, survive. Burge started the bidding at $700,000. Within seconds it had climbed to $1 million, then jumped to $1.3 million with a bid phoned in to the auction room.
What was the first Bible printed in America?
The first complete Bible printed in America was the "Eliot Indian Bible," which was translated into the Natick dialect of local Algonquin tribes by Puritan clergyman and pastor John Eliot, according to exhibit notes for the Library of Congress' Bible Collection. It was part of an effort to convert indigenous people to Christianity.
How to get free large print Bibles?
The Lutheran Braille Workers Incorporated organization provides large print bibles free of charge to the blind and visually impaired. Receiving a free large print bible is easy to do via telephone, the Internet, or regular mail. The easiest and fastest way to receive your free large print bible is by requesting one online.
What is the significance of Gutenberg?
Universally recognized and credited with inventing the printing press, Gutenberg actually aggregated a number of inventions and processes to make mass-production of printed books economical for both printers and readers.
How many copies of Bible were printed by Gutenberg?
It is now thought that Gutenberg produced about 135 copies on paper and about 45 on vellum. There are 48 copies of the Gutenberg Bible still in existence, not all of them complete, some being only substantial fragments of one of the two volumes. Of these, 12 are printed on vellum.
How long did it take Gutenberg to print one Bible?
between three to five yearsIt took between three to five years to complete the entire print run of 180 Bibles and each Bible weighs an average of 14 lbs. The printing process was done entirely by hand. 9) Of the original 180 Bibles, 49 are known to exist today. 21 of those are still complete.
What is a page of the Gutenberg Bible worth?
NEW YORK (AP) _ A Gutenberg Bible was sold at auction Thursday for $5.39 million, more than double the previous record for a printed book, Christie's auction house said.
Where is the original Gutenberg Bible?
Currently on View. In Mainz, Germany, in the mid-1450s, Johann Gutenberg and his partner Johann Fust published more than 150 large-format copies of the Bible in Latin. This is the book known today as the Gutenberg Bible.
Why is the Gutenberg Bible so special?
The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of printed books in the West.
Who bought the Gutenberg Bible and lost it?
In 1987, though, the seminary — wanting money to train priests — sold No. 45 at auction to Maruzen Co. Ltd, of Tokyo, for $5.4 million. The new owners eventually digitized every page and then either gave — or quietly sold — the Bible to Keio University, where today it remains locked away in a vault and never exhibited.
Did Rick sell the page of the Gutenberg Bible?
When a rare leaf from the Gutenberg Bible came in front of him, Harrison was in disbelief. According to the show, there are only 49 copies of the Gutenberg Bible known to exist today, and only 21 are complete. Harrison ended up purchasing the leaf for $47,000 and turning around and selling it for $68,000.
Can you buy a Gutenberg Bible?
THE BOOK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD. Considered a wonder in its own day and revered for its design and artistry, the Gutenberg Bible is now regarded one of the world's most iconic artifacts. Only 21 complete copies survive and none have been offered for sale since 1978.
What is the rarest Bible?
The Gutenberg Bible is the first work ever printed by Johann Gutenberg's revolutionary invention, the printing press. About 50 copies have survived and only 23 of those are complete. The full Bible is 1,286 pages and in 2007 a single page went on sale for $74,000.
How many pages is the Bible?
1,200 pagesUsing a standard font, the average bible has around 1,200 pages. As a book, the bible is as thick as “The Lord of the Rings” and similar fantasy novel epics. The difference is that the bible contains history and philosophy, and can be used for spiritual guidance.
What was the 1st book ever written?
The Epic of GilgameshThe first ever books The first book ever written that we know of is The Epic of Gilgamesh: a mythical retelling of an important political figure from history. In the 14th century, the Jikji was printed in Korea in movable (metal) type: a collection of Buddhist Zen teachings.
How many copies of Gutenberg's Bible are there?
Learn how imperfect copies of the Gutenberg Bible have been broken up and sold as individual leaves. The original number of copies of this work is unknown; some 40 are still in existence. There are perfect vellum copies in the U.S. Library of Congress, the French Bibliotheque Nationale, and the British Library.
Why is the Gutenberg Bible called the Mazarin Bible?
It is sometimes referred to as the Mazarin Bible because the first copy described by bibliographers was located in the Paris library of Cardinal Mazarin. Gutenberg Bible.
Where are the perfect vellum copies of the Bible?
There are perfect vellum copies in the U.S. Library of Congress, the French Bibliotheque Nationale, and the British Library. In the United States almost-complete texts are in the Huntington, Morgan, New York Public, Harvard University, and Yale University libraries.
Who was the first person to print a 42 line Bible?
Gutenberg Bible, also called 42-line Bible or Mazarin Bible, the first complete book extant in the West and one of the earliest printed from movable type, so called after its printer, Johannes Gutenberg, who completed it about 1455 working at Mainz, Germany.
Did Gutenberg have a title page?
Like other contemporary works, the Gutenberg Bible had no title page, no page numbers, and no innovations to distinguish it from the work of a manuscript copyist. This was presumably the desire of both Gutenberg and his customers. Experts are generally agreed that the Bible, though uneconomic in its use of space, ...
How many pages are in the Gutenberg Bible?
Most Gutenberg Bibles contained 1,286 pages bound in two volumes, yet almost no two are exactly alike. Of the 180 copies, some 135 were printed on paper, while the rest were made using vellum, a parchment made from calfskin.
How many copies of the Bible did Gutenberg make?
By studying the size of Gutenberg’s paper supply, historians have estimated that he produced around 180 copies of his Bible during the early 1450s. That may seem miniscule, but at the time there were probably only around 30,000 books in all of Europe.
What was the first Bible published in 1377?
Metal movable type was later used in Korea to create the “Jikji,” a collection of Zen Buddhist teachings. The Jikji was first published in 1377, some 75 years before Johannes Gutenberg began churning out his Bibles in Mainz, Germany. 2. Johannes Gutenberg didn’t make any money off the Bibles. Johannes Gutenberg has been called ...
What did the Soviets do to the Gutenberg Bible?
During the Soviet occupation of Germany at the end of World War II, the Red Army organized “Trophy Brigades” to seize priceless cultural artifacts from museums and libraries. The Russians considered the plunder an act of revenge for Germany’s own looting and war crimes, and they eventually confiscated millions of book and works of art. Chief among the booty were two copies of the Gutenberg Bible, which were taken from the German Book and Script Museum and the University of Leipzig. The Soviets denied any knowledge of the missing Bibles’ whereabouts until the 1980s, when it was revealed that they were being held in libraries in Moscow. Since then, the German government has made several unsuccessful attempts to secure their return. In 2009, a Russian government agent stole one of the looted Bibles and tried to unload it on the black market for $1.5 million. The man was later captured, however, and Russian authorities recovered both volumes.
How did Gutenberg's Bible help the West?
While the Gutenberg Bible helped introduce printing to the West, the process was already well established in other parts of the world. Chinese artisans were pressing ink onto paper as early as the second century A.D., and by the 800s, they had produced full-length books using wooden block printing. Movable type also first surfaced in the Far East. Sometime around the mid-11th century, a Chinese alchemist named Pi Sheng developed a system of individual character types made from a mixture of baked clay and glue. Metal movable type was later used in Korea to create the “Jikji,” a collection of Zen Buddhist teachings. The Jikji was first published in 1377, some 75 years before Johannes Gutenberg began churning out his Bibles in Mainz, Germany.
Why did Gutenberg use red ink?
Gutenberg originally used red ink to print title headings, or rubrics, before each of the books of the Bible. When this process proved too time consuming, he abandoned it in favor of simply leaving a blank space in the margins.
Which country has the most Gutenberg Bibles?
Germany stakes the claim to the most Gutenberg Bibles with 14, while the United States has 10, three of which are owned by the Morgan Library and Museum in Manhattan. The last sale of a complete Gutenberg Bible took place in 1978, when a copy went for a cool $2.2 million.
Where is the Gutenberg Bible on display?
A library visitor views the volume of the Gutenberg Bible on display in the Widener Memorial Room.
How many copies of the Bible were printed?
Gutenberg died in Mainz on February 3, 1468. Estimates of the Bible’s print run range from 70 to as many as 270 copies , with the majority printed on paper and up to 45 on vellum. Chapter headings and capitals were left to be rubricated by hand, a common practice in early printed books.
Who sold the Quaritch book?
It was sold for Quaritch by Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach to P.A.B. Widener, grandfather of Harry Elkins Widener. On May 8, 1944 it was presented to Harvard College Library by Mr. George D. Widener on behalf of his sister Mrs. Widener Dixon and himself.
What was the first major work printed in Europe with movable metal type?
The Gutenberg Bible. The first major work printed in Europe with movable metal type. A page from the Gutenberg Bible held by the Harvard Library.
How many pages are there in Gutenberg's Bible?
Soon a Latin Bible was printed. It was in two volumes, each of which had three hundred pages, while each of the pages had forty-two lines. The letters were sharp and clear.
When was the Gutenberg Bible printed?
Before Gutenberg died, printing-presses like his were at work making books in all the great cities of the continent. Between 1450 and 1455, the Gutenberg Bible was completed.
What did Gutenberg tell him about Strasburg?
Gutenberg told him how hard he had tried in Strasburg to find some way of making books cheaply, and how he had no more money to carry on his experiments. Fust became greatly interested and gave Gutenberg the money he needed. First of all it is thought that he made types of hard wood.
How much does a Gutenberg Bible cost?
If an entire Gutenberg Bible should become available on the world market, it would likely fetch an estimated 100 million dollars! Even an individual leaf (a single two-sided page) from the original Gutenberg Bible can fetch around $100,000.
When was Gutenberg born?
Gutenberg. Johann Gutenberg (a.k.a. “John Gutenberg”) wasis supposed to have been born 1398—1399 at Mainz of well-to-do parents, his father being Friele zum Gensfleisch and his mother Elsgen Wyrich, whose birthplace “Gutenberg”, was the name he adopted. The books from which Gutenberg learned to read as a young boy were not like books today;
What was Gutenberg's new way of making books called?
While Gutenberg was growing up a new way of making books came into use, which was a great deal better than copying by hand. It was what is called block-printing. The printer first cut a block of hard wood the size of the page that he was going to print.
Did Gutenberg use wood type?
But type made of wood did not always print the letters clearly and distinctly, so Gutenberg gave up wood types and tried metal types. This worked much better, and Gutenberg was progressing well toward the completion of the first book ever printed by movable type: the Bible in Latin.
How much is the Gutenberg Bible worth?
If you want to snag your hands on one of these copies, you better come with some heavy cash flow. Gutenberg Bibles are now worth $35 million. Seems somewhat ironic considering the purpose behind this Bible was to ensure as many people, who could not afford expensive items, could have a chance to read Scripture.
How many Bibles were printed at one time?
Gutenberg laid the foundation for the possibility of this. One forerunner of what we know as the printing press allowed for 40-180 Bibles to be printed at one time. Gutenberg likely would’ve had more printings if he hadn’t run low on funds.
How did Gutenberg speed up the printing process?
After a great deal of trial and error, and a lawsuit, Gutenberg sped up the process of printing by creating a moveable machine that printed the work much faster than his predecessors . Although he gained virtually no profit from this machine, he did lay the groundwork for mass-produced books.
What was the first book of history?
One of the rarest, and undoubtedly, distinguished books of history, the Gutenberg Bible was among one of the first printed books of history, the very first in the west. Likely one of the most famous Bibles in the world, this served as a forerunner to books printed via “moveable type.”. In other words, prior to 1455, ...
What did Gutenberg do to make the printers more text friendly?
Not only did Gutenberg find a way to make a more text-friendly printer (most of the “printers” of the day worked better with images than words), but he developed a new kind of metal alloy that helped stick the ink to the vellum pages better.
How many copies of the Bible were printed in 1975?
Between 1815 to 1975, the Bible saw a printing of 2.5 billion copies, it is likely closer to 5 billion now. God calls us to spread his good news, and the best way to do so is by translating the Bible into every known language and making it available to all nations.
Where was Gutenberg born?
Born to a wealthy family at the tail end of the 14 th century in Mainz, Germany, Johann Gutenberg had grown accustomed to reading books growing up that had been copied by hand. During his formative years, he watched as a faster process, known as block-printing, come about.
How many copies of Gutenberg Bible are there?
There are 48 copies of the Gutenberg Bible still in existence, not all of them complete, some being only substantial fragments of one of the two volumes. Of these, 12 are printed on vellum. Only four vellum copies and 12 paper copies are complete. Both copies in the British Library are complete.
How many copies of the Bible were printed?
How many. A contemporary witness, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, reports that the Bible was said to have been produced in either 158 or 180 copies. More information on Piccolomini's report. We know that Gutenberg increased the print-run after work had begun.