Gutenberg invented a process using moveable type so that books could be created in mass production. Gutenberg’s bible is the first European book created. Printing required a lot of planning of where the text should be placed. With a combination of hand-drawn images, drop cap letters, and a good sense of hierarchy the Gutenberg bible is very artistic and aesthetic. Before this, all books were created by hand which took a lot of strain and effort. Now that labor is cut down using moveable type books are more affordable to society and can be purchased by more of the public. The printing press is an invention that works by applying an inked surface to paper or cloth. The best part about the printing press is how much time is saved and how revolutionary this idea was at this time. Amazingly, compared to 40 pages done by hand per day, the printing press can produce 3,600 pages per day. There are 290 characters in total which I think is unbelievable because they really included all punctuation. I wonder if the alphabet changed over time. 

At first, some copies of Gutenberg’s Bible had red headers but it was later found that the copies should be black only with the red headers drawn out by hand. There were white spaces left so all the capital letters at the start were written by hand. The margins were also left blank to leave room for illustrations. The ornamental initials were not supposed to make the book more expensive or luxurious, the point was to make it large enough so that it could be easily read to the crowd in a monastic refectory. 

49 bibles out of 180 originals exist today and are owned by mostly libraries, universities, and museums. It is said that there is one private owner of a copy but it doesn’t say who, which intrigues me. I wonder what the reason was for purchasing it and I wonder if they keep it on display or if they study it. The bibles that were produced are not identical and less than half are actually completed. A recent sale of one of the Gutenberg bibles was for $2.2 million actually in 1978, about ten years later one sold for $5.4 million and one is now estimated to cost $35 million because of how rare it is. The Gutenberg Bible is said to be the most expensive book in the world.

https://www.themorgan.org/collections/works/gutenberg/ornamentation
https://www.history.com/news/7-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-gutenberg-bible
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/gutenberg-bible
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gutenberg-Bible