THE PRINTED BIBLE
Facts about the First Printed Bible
The first books (mainly Bibles) were written with a reed or pen by hand.
Johann Gutenberg was the very first man to device the art of printing by metal characters. (movable type) Very little is known about his personal life, but it is thought that he never married and died in 1468.
The Gutenberg Bible is the first Western printed book of any length and one of the first old books known to the general public.
The press took a man of great strength because it was manipulated by hand. A page was printed and then sent to an artist who illuminated the page.
The Gutenberg Bible is almost 1300 large format pages.
It was printed in Mainz Germany in the mid fifteenth century
The Bible is the source of Faith and the central text of the religion of the West. In its earliest printing, in the opinion of many critics, it is one of the most beautiful books ever produced.
Today there are 48 surviving copies of the Gutenberg Bible, about 20 of them complete, but some consist of a single volume or less.
The Gutenberg Bible was printed by special order on vellum or paper either with extensive illumination, some or none.
An estimate of 180 copies were complete by 1455…. 45 on vellum.
The cost was determined by whether it was printed on vellum or paper and the extent of illumination. (art work) One hundred Renish guilders was paid for the extensively illuminated vellum copy that now is in the Huntington Library in California. An unbound paper copy without illumination might have cost a more affordable 20 guilders. This was about one-third to one-forth the cost of a good hand copied manuscript of the Bible.