The Gutenberg Bible: The Digitization of a Rare Book at the Crossroads of Old and New Media Revolutions

June 20, 2001 / Published in "Juku" 2001, no. 230

In the spring of 1996, Keio University acquired a copy of the so-called "Gutenberg Bible," the first major book printed in the West using letterpress printing.
This article introduces the provenance of this Bible and the Keio University project, launched concurrently with its acquisition, to digitize historical books.

Around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg began the first letterpress printing in the West in the town of Mainz on the Rhine River in Germany.

About five years later, he published the Bible as a large-scale letterpress book. This is what is known as the "Gutenberg Bible," of which only 47 copies are known to survive. In 1996, Keio University purchased one of these copies. It is the only "Gutenberg Bible" owned by a non-Christian country and the only one in Asia.

The "Gutenberg Bible" is not only old but is still considered the most beautiful printed work in the world, possessing high artistic value. Because most of its pages are set with 42 lines of text, it is also known as the "42-line Bible," distinguishing it from those printed in later eras.

Gutenberg's letterpress printing, considered one of the three great inventions of the Renaissance along with the compass and gunpowder, sparked a major media revolution in Europe. The spread of the Bible through letterpress printing was a remote cause of the Protestant Reformation led by figures like Martin Luther. Today, in the 21st century, we are in the midst of a large-scale media revolution driven by IT. Although letterpress printing is in decline due to the spread of computerized phototypesetting and the advent of DTP, Gutenberg's great achievement, which pioneered the information revolution, is still highly regarded in the West. Four years ago, the American magazine "Life" published a ranking of the 100 most important events and people of the past millennium. It selected Gutenberg's printing of the Bible as number one.

In fact, the origins of movable type printing are earlier in China and the Korean Peninsula. Nevertheless, the reasons Gutenberg is considered the "father of letterpress printing" include his casting of type using a lead alloy (tin, antimony), the creation of a printing press adapted from a wine press that could apply strong, even pressure, and the use of oil-based ink. These unique technological developments of his paved the way for the subsequent history of letterpress printing. Perhaps fearing that these techniques would be leaked, Gutenberg undertook his letterpress printing business almost entirely on his own. However, after investing his own fortune and accumulating debt, he found himself heavily in debt. Following a legal dispute, he was forced to hand over all his equipment mid-production to his financier, Johann Fust, and others. It seems he spent his later years in misfortune. The "Gutenberg Bible" has no colophon or any credit for the printer or date of printing, unlike modern books. For this reason, there was a long period when Fust and others who took over the business were considered the fathers of letterpress printing, and Gutenberg's contributions were not recognized until the 18th century.

Following the acquisition of the "Gutenberg Bible," Keio University launched the HUMI (HUmanities Media Interface) project, bringing together many researchers from various faculties to conduct prototype research toward the realization of a Digital Research Library. This project, which received a special grant from the Ministry of Education (now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), used the latest digital technology to create digital image data of the "Gutenberg Bible" and other precious historical books held by the library. Through this work, the staff of the HUMI project, including Professor Toshiyuki Takamiya of the Faculty of Letters, who independently developed equipment for photography and data storage, also undertook overseas expeditions starting in 1998 to the Cambridge University Library, the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, and other institutions for the comparative study of the "Gutenberg Bible." The British Library in London, which they visited in March 2000, has some of the world's strictest standards for book preservation, and the negotiations and technical verification for photography took a year and a half. As a result, however, the high technical level and outstanding work of the Keio University staff earned high praise from around the world. Last November, a memorandum of understanding was signed with the British Library to continue collaborative efforts in digitizing historical books. Some of the image data collected by the HUMI project is available on its website and can be freely viewed and used.

Digitizing precious documents and materials makes it possible to provide them as data to researchers via the internet, protecting the originals from damage and accidents. Furthermore, there are significant advantages for comparative study, such as the ability to freely zoom in and out and remove blemishes. Taking over from the HUMI project, which has completed its scheduled period of activity, the Digital Research Museum (DRM) initiative was launched this fiscal year. Researchers from Keio University and IT-related companies have formed a consortium to conduct industry-academia collaborative research on various uses and business models for digitized information. Under this DRM initiative, the goal is to establish a "digital museum" to replace traditional museums by digitizing not only the printed materials handled by the HUMI project but also visual materials such as photographs and films, and audio materials such as records and tapes. In April, the Keio University Research Center for Advanced Humanities and Media was newly established at the university's Naughton Court Campus in the UK as a base for collaboration with European universities, museums, and art galleries. Over the next three years, this center will serve as a base to build a closer relationship with the British Library and develop a research framework that enables international collaboration in the digitization of cultural heritage.