Gutenberg Bible

Forty-eight Gutenberg Bibles still exist, although only 21 are complete, and many of them can be viewed online. The University of Texas at Austin copy can be seen here. The Library of Congress’s Gutenberg Bible can be viewed here. The British Library has two copies of the Gutenberg Bible, one printed on paper and one printed on vellum, and they used to be able to be viewed and compared here. Click on “Texts.” If you compare the British Library’s two copies, be sure to notice that the black type is identical on the two copies, but the colored decorations are different.

NOTE: In October, 2023, the British Library’s website experienced one of the worst cyber attacks in British history. In November, 2024 – more than a year later – the British Library said, "We're continuing to experience a major technology outage as a result of a cyber-attack. Our buildings are open as usual, however, the outage is still affecting our website, online systems and services, as well as some onsite services. This is a temporary website, with limited content.” As of the summer of 2025, the page with the paper and vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible was still not available.

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