22 March 1457 A.D. 1st Gutenberg Bible?
22 March 1457 A.D. 1st
Gutenberg Bible?
Graves, Dan. “Gutenberg’s 1st
Bible?” Christianity.com. May 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1201-1500/gutenbergs-1st-bible-11629885.html.
Accessed 20 Mar 2015.
Johann Gutenberg is one of the most famous men who
ever lived, but we know next to nothing about him. Although we can pinpoint the
month and day of his death, we aren't sure of the year. All the same, if you
like to read books, you owe a debt to this extraordinary inventor.
Gutenberg was the first person in history to
actually print books from movable type. However, the idea may not have been
his. A silversmith named Waldvogel taught "artificial writing" at
Avignon as early as 1444, using steel alphabets and an iron-screw press.
Waldvogel, however, does not seem to have overcome the obstacles which
Gutenberg shrewdly mastered at great personal cost. This included developing an
oil-based ink.
As a goldsmith, Gutenberg had the technical
training to accomplish the project, and was able to fund his own early
experiments. But eventually he needed capital and that proved his downfall. He
had to take a partner-- Johann Fust of Mainz.
Because of his excessive secretiveness, his partner
sued him. It is one of the great ironies of history that Gutenberg was unable
to profit from his invention of printing. His creditors foreclosed on him just
when success was within his grasp. The man who more than anyone else brought
about the print revolution, answered in court like any other debtor. Fust was
awarded most of Gutenberg's equipment and the stock of Latin Bibles he had
printed.
Today, Gutenberg's few surviving Bibles are worth
millions of dollars. And yet, we don't know for sure when his first Bible was
published. Some almanacs say it happened on this day, March 22, 1457. However,
that date has difficulties, because copies already existed when Fust sued him
in 1455.
Gutenberg's Bible was in Latin, the language of the
church. Today we are used to elegant and "clean" typefaces. He
printed his text in the thick and elaborate Gothic style familiar to readers of
Medieval manuscripts. The Bible was in 3 volumes of 1,282 unnumbered pages.
After he lost his lawsuit, Gutenberg continued to
print. However, he dreamed of making his books as beautiful as the illuminated
manuscripts of the day and it just wasn't feasible at that time. Practical
printers, who cared less about aesthetics, got more business than Gutenberg.
In his old age, Gutenberg was very poor. Archbishop
Adolf of Nassau took pity on the old man and gave him an appointment at his
court that at least fed and clothed him.
Bibliography:
Asimov, Isaac. Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and
Technology; the lives and achievements of 1195 great scientists from ancient
times to the present, chronologically arranged. Garden City, N.Y.,
Doubleday, 1972.
Bouchot, Henri François Xavier Marie. The
book: its printers, illustrators, and binders, from Gutenberg to the present
time. Edited by H. Grevel. Containing one hundred and seventy-two
facsimiles of early typography, book-illustrations, printer' marks, bindings,
numerous borders, initials, head and tail pieces, and a frontpiece. London: H.
Grevel & co., 1890.
Feldman, Anthony. Scientists &
Inventors. New York: Facts on File, 1979; p. 16.
"Gutenberg, Johann." The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross
and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
"Johann Gutenberg." English Bible History.
(www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/gutenberg.html).
Wallau, Heinrich Wilhelm. "Johann
Gutenberg."
Various encyclopedia and internet articles.
Last updated May, 2007.
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