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Johann Gutenberg’s Forty-two-line Bible, also known as the Gutenberg Bible or the Mazarin Bible (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016, para. 1), is the first typographic book. A large book (30 x 40.5 cm pages), it is laid out in two columns of justified type with a 2.9 cm margin dividing them. The first nine pages of the book contain forty lines per column, and the tenth contains forty-one. The remainder of the 1,282-page volume is set with forty-two lines per column, hence the name of the book. With an average of 33 characters per line, “each page had over 2,500 characters set from a fond of 290 different characters” (Meggs & Purvis, 2016, p. 80).
Because so many different characters were used, with a variety of ligatures, the book achieved the same sort of variety and richness seen in the illuminated manuscripts which inspired it. Indeed, illuminated text and illustrations remained part of the book in spite of the use of moveable type. Blank spaces were left in order for decorative capital letters to be hand-drawn by scribes. Originally, Johannes Gutenberg wished to print the book in two colours, but this proved too difficult at the time. Instead, illuminators added illustrations and red text, initials, and headers (Meggs & Purvis, 2016, p. 80).
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2016). Gutenberg Bible. Retrieved January 28, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gutenberg-Bible
Meggs, P. & Purvis, A. (2016). History of Graphic Design (6th Edition). Hoboken, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
I’ve long been intrigued by marginalia (images, notes, and doodlings in the margins), and marginalia was used in both illuminated manuscripts and the Gutenberg Bible. Some examples may be found for illuminated manuscripts here (https://io9.gizmodo.com/5896008/medieval-monks-complained-about-their-jobs-in-the-margins-of-ancient-manuscripts ) and for the Forty-two-line Bible here (http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenbergbible/ransomcenter/). Why do you suppose marginalia is not discussed in the Meggs & Purvis text when it was a ubiquitous form of textual/graphic communication in books of the time?
Because so many different characters were used, with a variety of ligatures, the book achieved the same sort of variety and richness seen in the illuminated manuscripts which inspired it. Indeed, illuminated text and illustrations remained part of the book in spite of the use of moveable type. Blank spaces were left in order for decorative capital letters to be hand-drawn by scribes. Originally, Johannes Gutenberg wished to print the book in two colours, but this proved too difficult at the time. Instead, illuminators added illustrations and red text, initials, and headers (Meggs & Purvis, 2016, p. 80).
References
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2016). Gutenberg Bible. Retrieved January 28, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gutenberg-Bible
Meggs, P. & Purvis, A. (2016). History of Graphic Design (6th Edition). Hoboken, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Question
I’ve long been intrigued by marginalia (images, notes, and doodlings in the margins), and marginalia was used in both illuminated manuscripts and the Gutenberg Bible. Some examples may be found for illuminated manuscripts here (https://io9.gizmodo.com/5896008/medieval-monks-complained-about-their-jobs-in-the-margins-of-ancient-manuscripts ) and for the Forty-two-line Bible here (http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenbergbible/ransomcenter/). Why do you suppose marginalia is not discussed in the Meggs & Purvis text when it was a ubiquitous form of textual/graphic communication in books of the time?
