A Noble Fragment from the Gutenberg Bible

The Gutenberg Bible was the first substantial book produced using movable type. Also known as the 42-Line Bible, it was printed in Mainz between c. 1453 and 1455 by Johann Gutenberg and his business partner, Johann Fust. Gutenberg’s genius lay in his technological developments: movable type, the screw-driven printing press, and a type of thicker, oil-based ink.

Gutenberg probably printed other small books and ephemeral items, but little evidence of these survives, and it was the Bible that would stand as his masterpiece. Its appearance was based on manuscript Bibles, with the type designed to mimic hand-written text and space left in the margins for illuminations. Gutenberg also planned to print red initial letters, but this was inefficient because it required two press pulls. Instead, spaces were left within the text so that scribes could finish the job. It is estimated that 160–185 copies were printed, with a small number on vellum, the traditional material of book pages, and the rest on paper, which was more suited to printing.

Though Gutenberg’s business eventually failed, printing quickly spread across Europe and was firmly established in most regions by 1500. Today, there are 48 known copies of the Gutenberg Bible, of which only 21 are complete, and other copies are known only from fragments.