The British Library has made available complete, high-quality digital copies of its two Gutenberg Bibles on its Web site at no charge. The detailed scans, made in cooperation with Tokyo’s Keio University, will enable scholars to better compare the two editions and preserve them from unnecessary wear and tear. Curator of Early Printed Books Kristian Jensen told BBC News November 22 that “the books are actually quite strong, but the only thing that can destroy them is being handled too much; so if we can give access to them while preventing that, it will ensure they’ll be with us 500 years from now.”
The library’s two Bibles are slightly different versions: One, known as the “King’s Bible” because it was donated by King George III, is printed on paper; the second was printed on vellum and bequeathed by Thomas Grenville in 1846. Gutenberg is thought to have printed around 180 copies of the Bible around 1454–1455, of which 48 survive in complete or fragmentary form.
The Web site is a work in progress; the library plans to add text labels and other information to the page images.
Posted November 27, 2000.