Friday, June 12, 2015

Fragment of Gutenberg Bible expected to top $500,000 at auction

Eight-page section containing the Book of Esther was part of 15th-century edition cut up and sold in pieces by New York book dealer in 1920s

The Gutenberg Bible: Only 49 copies ‘of varying completeness’ survive today
The Gutenberg Bible: Only 49 copies ‘of varying completeness’ survive today Photograph: Peter Horree / Alamy/Alamy
An eight-page fragment from the Gutenberg Bible, the first major book to be printed using Johann Gutenberg’s printing press in 15th-century Germany, will go up for sale at Sotheby’s in New York next week, and is expected to fetch at least half a million dollars.Gutenberg, inventor of the movable-type printing press, is said to have printed 180 copies of the bible on paper and vellum in the 1450s. 
Around 49 copies of “varying completeness” survive today, said Sotheby’s, which will auction its fragment on 19 June, estimating it will sell for between $500,000 and $700,000.
More

No comments: