ONE of the world’s most treasured books, the Gutenberg Bible, will go on display in Scotland this week – but only for a single day.
Produced in the 1450s by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany, the Gutenberg Bible – as it later became known – was the first major book printed using moveable type in Europe.
The historic book will be shown as the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh on Thursday.
Anette Hagan, one of the curators of the library’s Rare Books collection, said: “The Gutenberg Bible is among the most precious items in our collections, and we’re delighted to bring it out for a day for people to see. It caused a sensation when it made its first appearance at the Frankfurt Bookfair in 1455, and to this day it has only gained in significance.
“The printing press was arguably the greatest technological advance in communications before the modern age, and transformed the way ideas and information circulated as much as the internet has done today.
“Without it, significant world events such as the Reformation would not have had the far-reaching and fast impact that they did, and in time, printing propelled a growth in literacy and the consumption of literature unimaginable in Gutenberg’s lifetime.”
The library’s edition of the Gutenberg Bible is one of just 20 complete copies still in existence today.
The full journey the book made from Mainz in Germany to Scotland’s National Library is unknown. Curators are aware that from as early as 1796, it was owned by lord provost of Edinburgh, David Steuart – but he sold it to the Advocates Library for 150 guineas in around 1806.
The Bible, along with all non-law-related collections of the Advocates Library, was passed to the National Library when it was established by an Act of Parliament in 1925.
The Bible will not be the only book printed during the infancy of printing – before the year 1500 – available for viewing on Thursday. Also on display will be Vitae et sententiae philosophorum by Diogenes Laertius, a third-century biographer of the Greek philosophers, which was printed by Nicolas Jenson in Venice in 1475. Jenson’s Roman typeface still influences typography today.
Peregrinatio in Terram Sanctam – an account of pilgrimage to the Holy Land by the Electorate of Mainz politician Bernhard von Breydenbach, printed by Erhard Reuwich in 1486 – will also be shown.
Breydenbach’s account is famous for its status as the first-ever illustrated travel book. The volume features large woodcut panoramas of cities such as Jerusalem and Venice and the first Arabic alphabet in print.
Breviarium Romanum, printed by Nicolaus von Frankfurt in Venice, 1489, and Horae: ad usum Parisiensem, printed by Philippe Pigouchet in Paris, 1493, will both also be displayed during the exhibition.
The display takes place at the National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, from 10am–6pm.
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