Minneapolis Institute of Art

Gutenberg Bible Leaf (Book of Sirach)

Printer: Johannes Gutenberg; Printer: Johann Fust

Date

1454–55

Medium

Letterpress in black, with hand-rubricated initials in red and blue on ivory laid paper

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Gutenberg Bible was the Big Bang of publishing. Gutenberg conclusively demonstrated that a book printed from movable type could rival the beauty and surpass in accuracy texts copied by hand. His father was involved with the minting of coins; so, Johannes grew up with knowledge of die cutting, punches, metals, and presses. Taking the idea of reproducing images in metal and reconfiguring it to make impressions on paper, he triggered the great information revolution that led to the transformation of religion, science, and government. His idea also rapidly displaced manuscripts as the main vehicles of knowledge. This leaf comes from the Book of Sirach (21:15 to 23:24), a compendium of wisdom expressed in maxims. A part of the Septuagint, it is esteemed by most Jews and is accepted as part of the biblical canon by Catholics and most orthodox churches but not by most Protestant denominations. Germany, Europe

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