The Gutenberg Bible
The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book
printed with movable type. It is not only an astonishing book itself, which is
printed with great accuracy and decorated in a detailed way; the Gutenberg
Bible also represents the start of the so-called “Gutenberg Revolution” and the
spreading of printed books as a medium.
Before
Gutenberg invented the process of the printing press, books were produced
entirely by hand, normally by monks. It is not hard to imagine, that this
method took months to copy even a small book. Gutenberg then found a way of
mass-producing individual pieces of type in metal. He was able to produce
hundreds of pieces of type, which then could be set up in phrases and pages and
being printed on a printing press. Afterward he could use them again and set
them up in a new way. With that Gutenberg also guaranteed (for the first time)
a consistent and clear font all over the book.
The
Gutenberg Bible is praised for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities. It is
written in Latin and was produced in the 1450s in Mainz, Germany. Gutenberg
made approximately about 180 editions of the Bible with his printing press. 49
copies of it are known to exist today. Each Bible consists of 1,268 pages, with
42 lines on each page, made by around 2,500 pieces of type. The spacious margin
around the text allowed great decoration, which was added by hand. Some of the
Bibles were decorated in a really elaborated way (always depending on how much
the buyer would pay). The approximate selling price of the Bible at Gutenberg’s
time was around 300 Florins. Gutenberg’s invention did not make him rich, but
it laid the foundation of mass production of books. Wider parts of the
population could afford them and enabled them to follow debates and take part
in discussions. The Gutenberg Bible represents all the changes happening during
that time period in a concrete and impressive way.
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Wow a bible at Gutenberg's time was around 300 florins? That is almost like the majority price for a dowry... Thats crazy to think about.
ReplyDeleteNotice how hand-painters illuminated the page later, representing the transition from illuminated manuscripts to printing. Fonts themselves might be consistent in the Middle Ages (we use the font today that Charlemagne helped perfect in 800 CE), but this new technology meant that everything should be accurate to get it ready for its printing. Therefore the printing press and humanism, "to the sources," coincided to produce new knowledge, and vast amounts of new material. Sometime like an advice manual, a broadsheet or pamphlet would be far less than the status symbol Gutenberg Bible!
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