Where are Gutenberg’s Bibles?

Perhaps the most treasured piece of printed material is the Gutenberg Bible. It was the German printer Johann Gutenberg who began printing these Bibles way back in 1455. He used a hand made printing press with movable type. These 42 line Bibles are historic manuscripts that mark the end of the phase of hand copied books and the beginning of publications that could be mass produced.

There were originally 180 copies of the Gutenberg Bible. They were bound in leather in two volumes. The wealthy patrons around the European continent bought the most expensive of these Bibles printed on vellum. The rest of Gutenberg's Bibles were printed on a hemp based paper product that was considered to be not durable enough to stand the test of time.

Many of these Bibles are nowhere to be found. Only eleven complete copies of the 42 line bible and one complete version of the New Testament is known to exist. This version is on vellum. And, there are 48 other copies of Gutenberg's Bibles that were printed on the hemp based paper.

The three perfect vellum copies still in existence are located in France, England, and the United States. In France, you can see the complete vellum version in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris besides a variety of rare and costly books. England's copy of the complete vellum Gutenberg Bible is located in the British Library in London. Here you will find an astounding collection of books that includes the original works of William Shakespeare. The third perfect vellum copy of the Gutenberg Bible is in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. A fourth and final perfect vellum copy of the Bible is in Goettigen, Germany's Universitaetsbibliothek.

Some of the other perfect copies of the Gutenberg Bible on paper are located in Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, and the United States. In all, there are about eighteen perfect copies printed on hemp based paper which was at one time considered not durable enough.

One copy of Gutenberg's Bible is in Asia in the Keio University Library in Tokyo. It is an incomplete and imperfect copy, but nonetheless an important copy of the 42 line Bible. This Bible was purchased in 1987 for an exorbitant price of $4.9 million by the Maruzen Company of Tokyo, and presented to the University in 1996.

Many imperfect copies of Gutenberg Bibles exist, mainly on the European continent. Universities, libraries, and private collections all over Europe boast these fantastic Bibles and should not be missed by any traveler.

If you are interested in seeing a copy—complete or incomplete—of a Gutenberg Bible, look to the World Wide Web. Many of these Bibles have been digitized and are available for viewing in the comfort of your own home. Look at the Gutenberg Bible census (http://clausenbooks. com/gutenbergcensus.htm) to find a Bible in an area near you or where you plan to travel.

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Brett Nga is the chief writer for, and editor of For Bibles it's one of the webs most up to date Bible sites, their free newsletter is well worth signing up for too.