Sell or Auction Your Single Gutenberg Bible Leaf for up to $136,500 or More at Nate D. Sanders Auctions
FREE ESTIMATE. To buy, auction, sell or consign your single Gutenberg Bible leaf that is for sale, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (http://www.NateDSanders.com).
Sell Your Gutenberg Bible Leaf
Consign your item at Nate D. Sanders Auctions. Send a description and images of your item to us at [email protected].
The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the “Gutenberg Revolution” and the age of printed books in the West. The book is valued and revered for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities as well as its historic significance. It is an edition of the Latin Vulgate printed in the 1450s by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, in present-day Germany. Forty-nine copies (or substantial portions of copies) have survived. They are thought to be among the world’s most valuable books, although no complete copy has been sold since 1978. In March 1455, the future Pope Pius II wrote that he had seen pages from the Gutenberg Bible displayed in Frankfurt to promote the edition, and that either 158 or 180 copies had been printed (he cited sources for both numbers).
Here is a Gutenberg Bible leaf we have sold in the past:
Gutenberg Bible Leaf 193 Chronicles of Old Testament
Scarce leaf from the Gutenberg Bible, one of the earliest major books printed from moveable metal type, the invention that ushered in the Age of Enlightenment by democratizing knowledge through mass production of literature. Printed by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany from 1450-1455, less than 50 complete or near-complete copies of the Gutenberg Bible are now extant, with nearly all those housed in public institutions. Singular leaves are also scarce, with the leaf presented here having been acquired by bookseller Gabriel Wells, whose purchase of an incomplete Bible in 1920 gave way to selling the individual leaves alongside an essay by A. Edward Newton entitled “A Noble Fragment”. Leaf is number 193 of the full Latin Bible, with the recto being the Prologue to 1 Chronicles of the Old Testament, and the verso the first part of Chapter 1 of 1 Chronicles. Each page features two columns of 42 lines in dark black Gothic type, accented by red and blue rubrication. Each copy of the Gutenberg Bible differs in its rubrication and illumination, with buyers at the time deciding upon these embellishments after the Bible was printed. The six-line rubricated letters of this leaf were likely added later, restored to match the original style. Leaf measures 11.125″ x 15.375″, bound on edge to portfolio measuring 11.75″ x 16″. Paper quality is still bright with very little foxing or discoloration compared to other examples. A stunning example from the book that changed the course of history. Sold for $136,500.
FREE APPRAISAL. To auction, buy, consign or sell your single Gutenberg Bible leaf for at least $42,500 and receive the highest prices realized in the industry, please send your photos and description to to [email protected].
Consign your item at Nate D. Sanders Auctions. Send a description and images of your item to us at [email protected].
FREE APPRAISAL. To buy, auction, sell or consign your item that is for sale, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (http://www.NateDSanders.com).