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.



Gutenberg originally printed 180 copies of the Bible, which were bound in leather in two volumes and sold to wealthy patrons around the European continent. The most expensive of these Bibles were printed on vellum. The rest of Gutenberg's Bibles were printed on a controversial hemp based paper product that many believed would not withstand the test of time.

Many of these Bibles are no longer in existence. Only a few complete copies of the 42 line bible are currently known to exist. In addition to these complete works, there is only one complete version of the New Testament outside of the eleven complete works. This version is on vellum. Additionally, there are 48 other copies of Gutenberg's Bibles that were printed on the hemp based paper.

There are three copies of Bible printed on vellum that are perfectly intact. These are with the countries of England, France and the United States. The copy of the Gutenberg Bible in the United States is kept in the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. In France the Gutenberg Bible is located in the Bibliotheque Nationale. This library happens to be home to some of the exclusive and most expensive of the books. The copy of England's vellum Gutenberg Bible is housed in the British Library situated in London. This Library is also home to some of the original books by the Bard of Avon, Shakespeare. And last but not the least, a fourth and final copy of the Bible rests in Goettigen, Germany's Universitaetsbibliothek.

Apart from the copies that were printed on vellum, there were also certain copies that are available on paper. There are about eighteen of these perfect copies that were published on hemp based paper product. These copies are located in Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, and the United States.

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.

While traveling do not miss out on any of these imperfect copies of Bible that exist throughout the European continent in many universities, libraries and private collections.

Nowadays, it is also possible to view the complete as well as incomplete versions of the Gutenberg Bible on the Internet. Now you can watch them in ease and comfort of your room. Visit the url- http://clausenbooks.com/gutenbergcensus.htm, to know more about the Gutenberg Bible census and to find all the areas where you can find Bibles.