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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 the typefaces that would become known as Textura and Schwabacher. A 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 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. 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. (Usually, when people point to the Gutenberg Bible, they mean the more familiar 42-line one, but confusion with other editions happens.) Although the 36-line Bible is thought to have been printed several years later, there is no complete consensus on the order of editions. Some specialists like Richard Schwab and Thomas Cahill argue 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.. Others, like Richard W. Clement, argue that the 36-line Bible was printed in 1458, 3 years after the 42-line Bible, but with an older typefont. 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
Trivia In some copies there are headings which are printed in red. This only occurs in about five pages. All the other red type is done by hand. This implies that the actual technology and knowledge for two-color (or multicolor) printing existed, and Gutenberg really tried to use it. Apparently the method was too inefficient, too slow for actual use and Gutenberg discarded the idea. After all, the main idea in printing was mass production. 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. (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 | ||||||||||
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