Bible, Latin | A bifolium from the Gutenberg Bible

Bible, Latin

Biblia Latina, a bifolium printed on vellum from the Gutenberg or 42-line Bible. [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg, c.1454-1455]

360 x 240 mm, Royal folio, joint bifolium (separated at one point now attached again) (I:25, 26 (3/5·6)) from volume I containing the text of Genesis 42:31 until 46:12, 42 lines, double column, type 140G, two 2-line initials in red, one in blue, chapter numbers and running title supplied in red, some capitals marked in red with a slanted stroke with serif; leaves browned overall, stain in upper right corner of first recto, a few small wormholes at right foot of first recto, some minor staining, creases where leaves were folded as paste downs, occasionally slight fading of text

A REDISCOVERED BIFOLIUM FROM THE GUTENBERG BIBLE, THE FIRST PRINTED BIBLE IN EUROPE, FROM THE COLLECTION OF PAUL HIRSCH.

This newly discovered bifolium from the Gutenberg Bible contains a substantial section of the book of Genesis (42:31 until 46:12). Not only the text but also the decoration of the lost fragment matches our fragment. The decoration of the St Louis and Dallas leaves is characterised by the purely red headlines, and slanted capital strokes with serifs, and a small dot after the chapter numerals, mirroring the decoration in our fragment.

The so-called 42-line Bible, or Gutenberg Bible, was created by German printer and publisher Johannes Gutenberg (c.1400-1468) in his workshop in Mainz in 1454/55. Using Jerome’s ‘Vulgate’ translation, the text is laid out in two columns of 42 lines. With its elegant Gothic type that was designed to emulate manuscript, the Gutenberg Bible was a revolutionary masterpiece, uniting the art of fine printing with ingenious craftsmanship, immortalising the historic significance of the Bible. While around 158 to 180 copies were made on paper, only 12 more or less complete Bibles on vellum are extant, and most of these are held in public institutions (White, p.21, 2010). In light of this survival rate, every fragment is a precious piece of cultural history.

The Gutenberg Bible was not only the first Bible, but the first book to be printed in Europe using movable type. While printing itself was not a new invention, Gutenberg is credited with having revolutionised the printing process through the introduction of individual ‘movable’ letters made of metal. Using individual letters that could be rearranged at a moment’s notice with minimum effort – instead of complete text blocks made from wood – radically hastened the production of printed materials and exponentially increased the amount of texts in circulation at the time.

Gutenberg’s technical advancement of the printing press acted as a catalyst for the Reformation movement that led to a cultural shift of unforeseeable proportions, an event that was coined the ‘printing revolution’ by Elizabeth Eisenstein in 1983. Almost overnight, it became possible to duplicate and multiply human knowledge within a few hours, making it accessible to a wider readership. The production of this Bible signified a turning point in human history, whose legacy and impact scholars are still trying to understand today.

SISTER LEAVES:

1. I:24 (3/4) = Genesis 41-42. Saint Louis, Missouri, Art Museum, 40:1922.

2. I:27 (3/7) = Genesis 46-48.Dallas, Texas, Southern Methodist University, Bridwell Library, Prothro B-51.

3. I:50 (5/10) = Leviticus 4-5. Coburg, Landesbibliothek, Inc. Ca 23:1; see E. Herold, “Die Coburger Gutenbergfunde und ihre Bedeutung für die Gutenberg-Forschung”, Gutenberg-Jahrbuch (1941), 52.

4. II:298 (30/4) = Acts 21-23. Karlsruhe, Landesarchiv, 65/11987; see Hermann Ehmer, “Ein neuentdecktes Pergamentfragment der 42-zeiligen Gutenbergbibel”, Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 123 (1975), 251-252, with two illustrations.

PROVENANCE:

1. Printed in Mainz by Johann Gutenberg in his workshop between 1454 and 1455.

2. A sister leaf from Coburg, which was used on a copy of the 1572 edition of Brant’s Stultifera Navis from Basel, indicates that this copy of the Gutenberg Bible must have been disassembled at some point before 1572.

3. The fragment is likely to be identified with the lost leaf belonging to the ‘Durlach Group’, designated by Eric White (White 2010, p.24). In 1909, the celebrated Munich bookseller Jacques Rosenthal acquired four leaves (two single leaves and our bifolium) encompassing Genesis 41 to 48. The bifolium was likely acquired around 1920 by Paul Hirsch. One leaf was purchased by Paul Gottschalk, who sold it to the St Louis Art Museum (f.I:24) in 1922. The remaining leaf (f.I:27) passed to Jacques Rosenthal’s son after his death in 1937, Dr. Erwin Rosenthal, who sold the leaf to H. P. Kraus in 1953 (his catalogue, The Cradle of Printing: From Mainz and Bamberg to Westminster and St Albans. One Hundred Incunabula and Manuscripts Important for the Development of Early Printing, New York, [1954]). Kraus sold the leaf in 1954 to Harold J. Maker of Irvington, New Jersey. The next known owner, Samuel D. Steinberg, presented it to Sinai Temple in Los Angeles in 1961. In 1964, John Howell Books in San Francisco sold the leaf to Charles Prothro of Wichita Falls, Texas, as a Christmas gift for his wife Elizabeth Perkins Prothro; she presented it to Bridwell Library in 1996 where it is still held today. Our fragment was sold to:

4. The renowned bibliophile Paul Hirsch (1881–1951). Born into a German-Jewish industrial family, he soon developed a great appreciation for books and was a passionate and accomplished musician. He created the largest private library in Europe, and his collection of music, encompassing over 18,000 items, is now held at the British Library. Following the rise of National Socialism in Germany Hirsch fled Germany in 1936 to settle in Cambridge;

5. by descent to the current owner. See following lot and lots 147-149.

LITERATURE:

ISTC ib00526000; White, Eric Marshall (2010). "The Gutenberg Bibles that Survive as Binder's Waste". In Wagner, Bettina; Reed, Marcia (eds.). Early Printed Books as Material Objects: Proceedings of the Conference Organized by the Ifla Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Munich, 19–21 August 2009. De Gruyter, pp. 21–35; Goff, Frederick R. Incunabula in American libraries: a third census. Millwood (N.Y.), 1973. (Reproduced from the annotated copy of the original edition (New York, 1964) maintained by Goff). (Supplement. New York, 1972.) B526

FURTHER READING:

Als die Lettern laufen lernten: Medienwandel im 15. Jahrhundert. Inkunabeln aus der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München. ed. by Bettina Wagner. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2009; Hooks, Adam G. “Breaking Gutenberg Apart.” http://www.adamghooks.net/2013/04/breaking-gutenberg-apart.html; Kapr, Albert. Johann Gutenberg: the Man and His Invention. Douglas Martin, trans. Aldershot, England: Scolar Press, 1996; Meuthen, Erich. “Ein neues frühes Quellenzeugnis (zu Oktober 1454?) für den ältesten Bibeldruck”, Gutenberg-Jahrbuch 57 (1982): 110; Needham, Paul (1999). "The Changing Shape of the Vulgate Bible in Fifteenth-Century Printing Shops". In Saenger, Paul; Van Kampen, Kimberly (eds.). The Bible as Book: the First Printed Editions. British Library. pp. 53–70; Needham, Paul (2010). "Copy Specifics in the Printing Shop". In Wagner, Bettina; Reed, Marcia (eds.). Early Printed Books as Material Objects: Proceedings of the Conference Organized by the Ifla Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Munich, 19–21 August 2009. De Gruyter Sur. pp. 9–20.

Newton, A. Edward. A Noble Fragment: Being a Leaf of the Gutenberg Bible, 1450-1455; with a Bibliographical Essay. New York: Gabriel Wells, 1921; White, Eric Marshall. Editio Princeps: a History of the Gutenberg Bible. London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2017