The Gutenberg Bible was the first book to be printed with movable type, by Johann Gutenberg in Mainz. The substantial two folio volumes are remarkable for the fine quality of the printing, executed with great care and attention to detail.
This exact facsimile edition is taken from the John Rylands Library copy which is one of forty-eight substantially complete surviving copies, now housed in libraries across the world. Purchased by George John, 2nd Earl Spencer in 1790 it found its way to Manchester in 1892 when Enriqueta Rylands purchased the Spencer Collection of books for The John Rylands Library.
This copy includes original hand-decorated initials at the beginning of each book and was probably at the Cistercian monastery of Eberbach, not far from Mainz, in the fifteenth century. Little is known and much has been speculated about the life of Johann Gutenberg, however this two volume Bible endures as an extraordinary achievement.
Revealed: The oldest book in the University
Library
A
book in the Sydney Jones Library can now claim to have been made almost a
thousand years ago – and takes the title of oldest book in University of
Liverpool’s collection – after a visiting expert redated it using new
developments in the field. Gregorius’ De
cura pastorali – now thought to be almost a thousand years old.
Dr. Erik Kwakkel, of Leiden University in the Netherlands, was visiting the University’s Special Collections and Archives to deliver a workshop and talk to postgraduate students on medieval manuscripts.
An expert in the fields of palaeography and codicology, Dr Kwakkel attempts to uncover what he terms the ‘cultural residue’ of works, to gain an insight into their age and possible use. He explores manuscripts by examining aspects not central to the text itself; such as book chains, marks from candle wax, reader annotations or the type of material the work is written on.
Dr. Kwakkel said: “We can see that this book is a little bit older than thought. But what makes it more significant is that it still has its original bindings. These are extremely rare in the Middle Ages, particularly when we move back in time from the 13th Century to the 12th Century. This is the most important item here. When you have the binding, you can see what it looked like in the Middle Ages. We have the full picture and we can see the book like a medieval person did.”
———————————Dr. Erik Kwakkel, of Leiden University in the Netherlands, was visiting the University’s Special Collections and Archives to deliver a workshop and talk to postgraduate students on medieval manuscripts.
An expert in the fields of palaeography and codicology, Dr Kwakkel attempts to uncover what he terms the ‘cultural residue’ of works, to gain an insight into their age and possible use. He explores manuscripts by examining aspects not central to the text itself; such as book chains, marks from candle wax, reader annotations or the type of material the work is written on.
Dr. Kwakkel said: “We can see that this book is a little bit older than thought. But what makes it more significant is that it still has its original bindings. These are extremely rare in the Middle Ages, particularly when we move back in time from the 13th Century to the 12th Century. This is the most important item here. When you have the binding, you can see what it looked like in the Middle Ages. We have the full picture and we can see the book like a medieval person did.”
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