Title page of 1st samuel of first book ever printed invention of the moveable typeprinting press. Stop saying the bible is a 2,000yearold book duration. Johann gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1450s, and the first book to ever be printed was a latin language bible, printed in mainz, germany. Gutenberg did not choose the bible to print first because he was particularly.
As you can see from the graphic below created by designer jared fanning, the bible leads the countdown by a large margin. And king neferirkare kakai of the fifth dynasty about 2400 bc is the first person to be recorded in history if you consider a handwritten book. It is said to be the most printed book in the history of the world, with more than one billion copies in print. So there are two ways to answer the question, when was the bible written. According to the march 2007 edition of time, the bible has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written. Gutenberg publishes the worlds first printed book awesomestories.
It is a great reminder to all people of faith as to why we should never give up on the work of gods mission. Stricklands history of the american bible society 1849. The bible has been a massive influence on literature and history, especially in the western world, where the gutenberg bible was the first book printed using movable type. The oldest book printed with movable type is not the. This is because, for centuries, the english church had been governed from rome, and church services were by law conducted in latin.
First book ever printed is gutenbergs bible in latin. Coverdale finished translating the old testament, and in 1535 he printed the first complete bible in the english language, making use of luthers german text and the latin as sources. The first one was printed on the gutenberg press in the 1450s. While the gutenberg bible helped introduce printing to the west, the process was already well established in other parts of the world. The british museums copy of the aitken bible bears aitkens autograph memorandum, this first copy of the first edition of the bible ever printed in america in the english language.
As seth perry explains in bible culture and authority in the early united states 2018, the original edition of stricklands history was full of factual errors, including the claim that the first congress printed and circulated the bible. Bought by james lenox in 1847, it was the first copy to be acquired by a united states citizen. We know that the bible is the bestselling book in all of human history but it also has the honor of being the first book ever printed and has been translated into 1200 different languages. On august 24, 1456, one of the 180 gutenberg bibles was completed. Chapman created the list by examining how many individual copies of the books had been printed and sold over the last 50 years. Such was the state of knowledge on the subject from 1782 until 1810, when isaiah thomas published his classic, a history of printing in america. Though the gutenberg bible was certainly the first mass produced printed work, it was hardly the first printed book nor was it even the first made using movable type.
The gutenberg bible was the first book ever printed with movable type. The chinese actually printed from movable type in 1040, but later discarding the method. The first american printing was in an indian language in 1663. Bible, some describing it as one of the most beautiful books ever printed. He was commanded by god to take on this task, for exodus 34.
Chinese artisans were pressing ink onto paper as early as the second century a. If youve ever used a rubber stamp, its the same idea except using. Before the advent of the printing press, the only way to duplicate a document or book was to copy it by hand. Its strange to think that without this book christianity may never have exisited. Johannes gutenberg invented the printing press around 1440 and the holy bible, popularly known as gutenberg bible or 42line bible, is widely acclaimed as the first major book mass printed in europe with the movable metal type printing press tha. Although there is no exact date known, between 618 and 907 adthe period of the tang dynastythe first printing of books started in china. The gutenberg bible also known as the 42line bible, the mazarin bible or the b42 was among the earliest major books printed using massproduced movable metal type in europe. A grammar of the kurnata language written, printed and published by william carey, 202 years ago in 1817, is the first ever printed book in kannada. Suddenly, texts could be produced faster, in larger numbers, and at a lower cost than ever. The first book ever printed is gutenbergs bible in latin. He later started a second print shop, but its unlikely that he ever turned a profit off his most famous work. Johann gutenberg holds the distinction of being the inventor of the movabletype printing press. I think mya was the first in the answer list to say that the gutenberg bible was the first printed book she and the others are right.
The first book that was printed and made available using this new. The diamond sutra was printed by method of woodblock printing, a strenuous method in which. But neither printing nor movable type was actually invented by johannes gutenberg, nor did he print the first book. Printed books existed nearly 600 years before gutenbergs. Johannes gutenberg is often credited as the inventor of the printing press in 1454. The gutenberg bible is probably the most valuable book or type of book in the world.
Born as johann gensfleisch john gooseflesh, he preferred to be known as johann gutenberg john beautiful. The gutenberg bible was among the earliest major books printed using mass produced. The recuyell of the historyes of troye was his first printed book, and the first book printed anywhere in english. Jikji in 77 is the answer for the first printed book. Researcher james chapman has compiled this look at the top 10 mostread books in the world. Surprising facts you never knew about the bible readers. But he wouldnt have known then that this bible would be considered one of the most beautiful books ever printed. I was proud to have the very first book i have ever printed be the bible, mission to myanmar founder mark robinette said lamenting he and his teams trip to burma to pass out the new testaments was cancelled in the crisis. The first human author to write down the biblical record was moses. Johannes gutenberg invented the printing press around 1440 and the holy bible, popularly known as gutenberg bible or 42line bible, is widely acclaimed as.
Born as johann gensfleisch john gooseflesh, he preferred to be known as johann gutenberg john beautiful mountain. His greatest printing achievement, and the first book ever to be printed by moveable type in the west, was the magnificent twovolume copy of jeromes. The bible tops the list of the most read books in the world. Johann gutenberg was the first in the west to advance the use of moveable type for printing. When was the first translation of the bible made into english. While the gutenberg bible helped introduce printing to the west, the process. Thus, the first complete english bible was printed on october 4, 1535, and is known as the coverdale bible. First printed in 1611, this edition of the bible was commissioned in 1604 by king james i after feeling political pressure from puritans and calvinists demanding church reform and calling for a complete restructuring of church hierarchy. Though the word bible comes from biblios, meaning scrolls, in greek, the bible was actually the first book to be printed by movable type instead of being written by hand. The gutenberg bible, also known as the 42line bible, is listed by the guinness book of world records as the worlds oldest mechanically printed book the first copies of which were printed in 14541455 ad. The second, the focus here is to describe how and when all 66 books were collected in a single volume. In 1455, gutenberg produced what is considered to be the first book ever printed. History of the bible timeline from creation to today. In germany, a few years earlier, johannes gutenberg had simplified the process of making metal, movable type, enabling mass printing and paving the way for the age of the printed book.
Would you like to own an exact facsimile reproduction of the first book ever printed. The first gutenberg bible, printed in 1454 by johannes gutenberg, introduced the world to movable type, history tells us. The bible was the first book ever printed on a press. During the 1500s, the very idea of an english language bible was shocking and subversive. The bible is the best seller and first book ever printed.
In response, james called for a conference at hampton court palace. It was produced in 1473 on the continent, in either bruges or ghent. The first is to identify the original dates for each of the bibles 66 books. The first precisely datable printing is the gutenbergs 31line indulgence. Gutenbergs bibles were surprisingly beautiful, as each leaf gutenberg printed was later colorfully handilluminated. Ten bits of trivia about the gutenberg bible, a book created by. He is credited with the first printed book because all other attempts were single page operations repeated until the book was done. How was the bible distributed before the printing press was invented. The first book of significance he printed was the 42line gutenberg bible, which took him years to finish and ultimately bankrupted him. One of the first ever printed book and the most famous of all first prints was the bible. Fast facts about the bible the old testament facts.
Though the gutenberg bible was certainly the first mass produced printed work, it was hardly the first printed book nor was it even the first made using. Printed books existed nearly 600 years before gutenbergs bible. William caxton was the first englishman to learn to use a printing press. Born as johann gensfleisch john gooseflesh, he preferred to be. Erasmus produces a greeklatin parallel new testament. The oldest extant printed book is a work of the diamond sutra and dates back to 868 ad, during the tang dynasty. Why do you think the bible was the first book printed. Interesting bible stuff for bible believers another helpful handbook. Books may now be massproduced instead of individually handwritten. But every schoolchild can tell you the first book ever printed, and everyone knows the first words of that book.
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