April 28, 2020, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Featured1Gutenberg’s Blanks Even with a print run of fewer than 200 copies, the Gutenberg Bible was a major undertaking. A complete copy, like the Ransom Center’s, includes 1,277 large pages that have text printed on them. Each full page required that approximately 2,500 individual pieces of metal type be set by hand,… read more
May 24, 2019, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Exhibitions + EventsGutenberg Misbound When Johann Gutenberg and his team published their Bible in the mid-1450s, what they were selling to buyers were sets of sheets, sheets of either paper or parchment that had text printed on them. What they were not selling were books—not, at least, if we take “book,” as we usually do,… read more
October 4, 2018, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Featured1Printing manuscripts In order to understand the Gutenberg Bible, it is critical to remember that it is a medieval book that was designed to satisfy the needs of medieval readers. Today, we expect pages in most books to be black and white. To navigate what we read, we rely on variations in… read more
