The Gutenberg Bible

In the mid-fifteenth century Johannes Gutenberg invented away ofmechanising the production of printing type,asdistinct from individually engraved or cast letters. This was the beginning of the massproduction of books.

The Gutenberg Bible was printed in Mainz around1454-5. It is the first major book printed in the west. We have reason to believe that about 180 copies were printed and significant parts of 48 copies still survive. The British Library has two complete copies of the Gutenberg Bible and a small but important fragment of a third copy. One copy, printed on paper, was transferred in 1829 to the British Library with the library of King George III (1738-1820). The other copy, printed on vellum, was bequeathed by Thomas Grenville (1755-1846).

In March 2000, ten researchers and technical experts from Keio University in Tokyo and from NTT spent two weeks in the British Library creating digital imagesof the two Bibles and the other relates items. The British Library is grateful for the support received from its Japanese partners.