Gutenberg's Bible - The 42-Line Bible

Gutenberg's Bible - The 42-Line Bible

Of the 180 printed and 48 surviving two-volume copies of the famous Gutenberg Bible, one specimen can be found in the Biblioteca Pública del Estado in the Spanish city of Burgos. The valuable incunable of the historical masterpiece was printed during the years 1452–54 in Gutenberg’s Mainz workshop. The handwritten template for the printed Bible was the so-called Vulgate, a 4th century translation of the books of the Old and New Testaments by St. Jerome. The Latin text was printed in a close line system on a total of 1,254 hand decorated and illustrated sheets of paper. The work is also referred to as the 42-Line Bible since every page of text contains 42 lines. The illuminated bible is, just like every other surviving Gutenberg Bible, a gorgeous, high-quality unicum and an absolute treasure for every bibliophile.

Gutenberg’s Legacy

Johannes Gutenberg is regarded as the inventor of modern book printing with moveable metal type and printing press. He was actually the first person who employed the invention of book printing in such a way that it unleashed a revolution in the availability and price of books. He was the first editor or publisher of literature worldwide. The paradigm of his publication method was his printed Bible. Credit is due Gutenberg in particular for having coalesced all of the components of the printing and reproduction of written text into an efficient production process, which facilitated the mechanical production of books for the first time. In the year 1997, Gutenberg’s printed Bible was voted TIME-LIFE Magazine’s most important invention of the second millennium, and the Mainz native was named the “Man of the Millennium” in 1999 by the A&E Network.

A Truly Unique Gutenberg Bible

The Burgos Bible consists of two volumes, the first of which contains the Old Testament and the second the New Testament. The text pages are arranged in a uniform justification. The harmonious impression of the text pages is the result of the application of various broad letters, ligatures, and abbreviations. Gutenberg chose a particularly large font for his typeface, which is reminiscent of earlier, handwritten liturgical books. Consequently, the biblical text is also legible in low light and from a distance and was intended for use in church. The Bible was furnished with individually colored and gilded decorations and initials according the wishes of the owner subsequent to printing. The illustrators inserted colorful drawings, furnished the book pages with elaborate floral adornment and embellished free spaces around the text with realistic plant tendrils. The Spanish Gutenberg Bible is a precious unicum like the other specimens of this work.