Description

A fine leaf from the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with moveable type, being the end of Chapter 45 through the beginning of Chapter 48 of Isaiah. The best example on the market and the best a collector could hope for. Finely framed to the highest museum grade standard. Printed between 1450 - 1455, The Gutenberg Bible is a landmark in the history of mankind and propelled us into the early modern era and the Renaissance. The creation of the printing press by Gutenberg and subsequently the printing of his bible (the first printed Western book) is akin to the creation of the internet, the moon landings, the invention of the wheel and more. It is one of the most important moments in our shared history. A few years after the invention of Gutenberg's press and his Bible, there were millions of books circulating the globe. This is undoubtedly one of the rarest items Treasure has encountered thus far. Only 49 complete bibles are known to exist and these are with museums and institutions. In the 20s a famous rare book dealer, Gabriel Wells, split an incomplete copy and sold the leaves of which there were 568. 466 have been found and this is one of those. The others are still wandering yet to surface! Alongside the leaves, Wells sold a book called a Noble Fragment which is rare in itself and we have the book alongside this. All the leaves from Wells' splitting of his bible are called Noble Fragments. Currently only two others are available anywhere in the world. This is the finest example of those and indeed the finest to surface so far. Each collector who bought each of the 180 bibles printed by Gutenberg, illuminated them in whatever way they wanted, thus making each bible unique and each leaf unique. NOTE: This item is NOT Available for Layaway.

Listed By: TreasureAdmin