[MR] Wikipedia: Gutenberg Bible Completed

[Garth Groff via Atlantia]

Noble Friends,

It is refreshing to post about something other than battles, 
assassinations or disasters, though they are perfectly valid topics. On 
this date in 1456 the printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed, 
certainly a positive and important anniversary.

As you well know, the Gutenberg Bibles (there were probably about 180 
copies) are likely the most important books in the history of the world. 
I learned the Gutenberg Bible was the (Catholic) Vulgate edition, 
printed on either high-quality Italian paper or velum, and that there 
are significant variations in the number of lines per page from book to 
book. Some of the copies were sold illuminated, some were sold plain, 
and some plain copies were decorated post-sale. Forty-nine copies or 
partial copies remain.

You can read about the history of the Gutenberg Bible here: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutenberg_Bible .

A number of the Bibles have been photographed and are available online. 
Unless you understand Latin, you are out of luck for reading the text, 
but at least you can appreciate the artistry. The list of surviving 
copies near the end of the Wikipedia article has the links. I selected 
the link from the National Library of Scotland (of course!): 
http://digital.nls.uk/gutenberg-bible/pageturner.cfm?id=74481666 .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, That Crazy Scot