Writing Art: Biblia Latina (Latin Bible)

Printed in the mid-fifteenth century, Johann Gutenberg’s Bible was the first book to be printed using movable type. The technology for printing books was already in use in the Far East; in Europe, however, books were still being painstakingly copied and illustrated by hand.

At the heart of Gutenberg’s invention was the type-casting instrument. Gutenberg discovered how to create corresponding engraved steel punches with letters (all same height, different widths) and secure them in a frame. The style of the lettering created for this Bible imitates the large gothic handwriting traditionally used for biblical and liturgical texts. The letters varied subtly but systematically according to their position in a word and created a woven appearance, thus garnering the name textura. The Bible was first available as loose sheets to be purchased and finished to the owner’s taste. This often included illumination; in some cases, the sheets were also foliated and then bound.

Before the appearance of the Gutenberg Bible, the book at the center of Christian piety and doctrine was not widely available. The expense involved in producing individual manuscripts by hand, as well as the rate of literacy, meant that the Bible was restricted largely to priests and other Church officials. In many ways, these circumstances bolstered the authority of the Church, which was seen as a conduit for making the word of God accessible to the masses. The development of technology that allowed the production of innumerable printed copies brought the Bible to a much broader public, ushering in an age of Reform during which the role of the clergy was questioned and direct access to God was promoted.