Ransom Center Magazine

Gutenberg Bible

Gutenberg Misbound

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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, to imply a codex that is ready to read by turning a series of leaves held together at one edge. As I have written before, when a monastery, church, or private individual bought a Bible from Gutenberg, they had to find a scribe to add red text to spaces that the printers had left blank. Gutenberg’s customers had to find bookbinders, too.

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Printing manuscripts

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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 typography, centered text, indents, and other creative uses of white space. [Read more…] about Printing manuscripts

Instructions for reading aloud in the Gutenberg Bible

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As many readers of this blog will know, Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust’s Biblia latina (Mainz, 1454–1455) represents the first substantial book printed from moveable type on a printing press. Without question, it is a milestone in information technology. And yet, it is important to remember that [Read more…] about Instructions for reading aloud in the Gutenberg Bible

“Hasty and exuberant” decoration in the Ransom Center’s Gutenberg Bible

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The Ransom Center’s two-volume Gutenberg Bible is on permanent display. Every few months the Center’s staff changes the opening, allowing visitors to see different pages and to protect the volumes from overexposure to light. [Read more…] about “Hasty and exuberant” decoration in the Ransom Center’s Gutenberg Bible

From Mainz to Austin: Carl H. Pforzheimer’s Gutenberg Bible and its earlier owners

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Eric White, Curator of Rare Books at Princeton University, discusses the Ransom Center’s Gutenberg Bible on Thursday, February 9, at 7 p.m. for the Center’s annual Pforzheimer lecture. [Read more…] about From Mainz to Austin: Carl H. Pforzheimer’s Gutenberg Bible and its earlier owners