Gutenberg Bible Leaf
1454/55
Medium
Letterpress in black with initials in red and blue on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Text: 28.7 × 19.3 cm (11 5/16 × 7 5/8 in.); Sheet: 39.2 × 28.5 cm (15 7/16 × 11 1/4 in.)
Classification
drawings (visual works)
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
91678
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
As the first book printed in the Western world using movable type, the Gutenberg Bible is justifiably famous. Copies of the complete book are so exceptionally rare that there are only a handful in the United States and none in the Chicago area. Yet this single sheet has long been part of the Art Institute’s collection, hidden within a 1921 “leaf book” that also includes an explanatory essay discussing this “noble fragment.” This page originated from a copy of the Gutenberg Bible lacking the firs...