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The First Printed Bible, AD 1456 | ||
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Up until this time, even books as large as the Bible were still written out by hand. This took a lot of time and effort; in addition, the pages were often very beautifully decorated, so books were very expensive and not easily obtained. (To view an example of these books, please click here or search the British Library for Lindisfarne Gospels.) However, this was about to change. | |
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By the middle of the 15th century, there were some efforts being made in continental
Europe to find a quicker way to produce books. This was stimulated in part by
increasing trade with China where books were already being printed by the woodblock
technique. The first person to succeed in printing whole books from metal type
was Johannes Gutenberg, who was born in Mainz. It took Gutenberg many years to solve the considerable problems. He had to work out a satisfactory alloy of various metals, so that the type would continue to print clearly and cleanly over a whole print run; he also needed to find a practical mould for the letters, and suitable ink and paper. Developing this process was costly, and he had to borrow quite heavily; as a result, he often appeared in court, and the court records are our main source of information on Gutenberg’s invention. Gutenberg began by printing several small Latin grammars and materials on single sheets. The Latin Bible was the first work of substantial size to be printed. This vast undertaking occupied him from 1450 to 1456. The investment of effort, time and money does not seem to have made Gutenberg and his partners wealthy, but others soon capitalised on his invention. The new process did not immediately result in more accurate copies. Indeed, it was a long time before a printed book, even a Bible, was as accurately transcribed as a copied one; the printed book was also much less decorative than the copied one. However, a printer could do as much in one day as a copyist could do in a year, so for the first time in Europe it was possible to develop a “mass” market (among the literate) for the printed word. | ||
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Like to read more?
The Making of the Old Testament The First Translations, mid-3rd century BC The Making of the New Testament, AD 40-150 Translating the Bible into Latin, AD 383-410 The Earliest English Translations, AD 735 The First English Bible, AD 1383 The First Printed Bible, AD 1456 Luther and the German Bible, AD 1522-34 The First Printed New Testament in English, AD 1525 The First Complete Printed Bible in English, AD 1535 | ||