Gutenberg Bible napkins

These unusual napkins, which quote the Nativity from, the Gospel According to Luke in the New Testament, are a real eye-catcher on the dinner table. Reading about the birth of Baby Jesus in Bethlehem we begin to feel some of the true meaning of Christmas: light and warmth, hope and joy, love and comfort.Gutenberg Bible napkins. Reproduced as a five-colour print. 20 serviettes in a packet.

Gutenberg Bible I/5, Genesis (First Book of Moses 1,1–30): »In principio creavit deus...«In six days, God created the heavens and the earth, light and darkness, water and land, plants, animals and people. We offer this famous passage from the Good Book in two deluxe versions based on the Göttingen and Berlin copies of the Gutenberg Bible. Both are heralded as the surviving Bibles with the most beautiful illumination. The initial »I« of in »In principio creavit deus...« fills the left margin and depicts the story of Creation in six medallions. The manufacture of our deluxe page  Our deluxe pages from the Gutenberg Bible are exact reproductions of the historical originals. It takes days or weeks to produce them, depending on the richness of the ornamentation, and demands great concentration by the artist – just like in the 15th century. The paper for our deluxe pages is handmade with a watermark and is printed on historical machines owned by the Gutenberg Museum (Korrex Hannover). As at Gutenberg's workshop, only the text in black is printed, with everything else added by hand. The beginnings of sentences are accentuated in red with a quill or brush as upstrokes, with headings also written in by hand (rubrication). The initials and miniatures are sketched into the empty spaces left by Gutenberg for this purpose and in the margins. The base substance for the gold leaf is then applied and the gold laid on top of this. The pages are illuminated in many layers of ink with fine heightening and shading. Finally, the last line ornaments are added and the gold polished. Bible original format: ca. 45 x 33 cmStorage Our deluxe Bible prints are supplied in a handmade presentation folder (51 x 39 cm) that perfectly protects the gold leaf. An informative brochure in English and German on the Gutenberg Bible and its manufacture is also included. Our deluxe pages are also available in a dustproof and airtight frame (57,5-44 cm), which protects the precious gilding with a spacer strip between the glass and the passe-partout.Please note: Framing extends the delivery time by one to two weeks.

In Gutenberg’s day and age wine wasn’t just a mere drink but an elixir – and also a form of payment. Part of Gutenberg’s pension was remunerated in wine. Whereas the wine-growing and production techniques of the 15th century usually produced rather acidic vintages, the wines in our special Johañes Gensfleisch edition (as Johannes Gutenberg was christened) are of high quality, pleasant to the taste and gentle on the palate – and typical of the wine-growing area of Rheinhessen. Riesling was common to our region during Gutenberg's lifetime and went under the name of Ruessling. It only began to be recognised as an excellent grape for white wine at the end of the 16th century, however. From this point on its success has been unstoppable! Our dry Riesling is a 2018 vintage and comes from the Mainz winery of Bernhard Stenner. The label quotes a passage in the Gutenberg Bible: “Et deficiente vino dicit mater Jesu ad eum: Vinum non habent” – When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine’.

In Gutenberg’s day and age wine wasn’t just a mere drink but an elixir – and also a form of payment. Part of Gutenberg’s pension was remunerated in wine. Whereas the wine-growing and production techniques of the 15th century usually produced rather acidic vintages, the wines in our special Johañes Gensfleisch edition (as Johannes Gutenberg was christened) are of high quality, pleasant to the taste and gentle on the palate – and typical of the wine-growing area of Rheinhessen. Spätburgunder (Pinot noir) is one of the oldest varieties of grape in the world. Originally from France, it came to Germany via Lake Constance before arriving in Rheinhessen. Gutenberg and his contemporaries would have been familiar with this grape. Our Spätburgunder is a dry, expressive vintage from 2018 and the perfect accompaniment to a good meal or evening read. It comes from the Mainz winery of Bernhard Stenner. The label quotes a passage in the Gutenberg Bible: “Et deficiente vino dicit mater Jesu ad eum: Vinum non habent” – When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine’.

We have put together an entire alphabet of splendid illuminated initials from the 15th century, copied from originals in the existing Gutenberg Bibles. We are now proud to present them on genuine Veronese Carrara marble tiles measuring 10 x 10 cm. The coasters have a cork backing to prevent them from slipping, making them perfect drink mats for glasses and bottles. Both beautiful and solid, they are also ideal as paperweights – or simply for decoration.

Table decoration from the 15th centuryThese beautiful marble tiles were designed based on paintings from the Berlin copy of the Gutenberg Bible. With a felt-coated underside, they are well suited as coasters for bottles or glasses. But they can also be used as paperweights or simply as unique decorative objects.Size: 10 x 10 cm

Gutenberg Bible I/5, Genesis (First Book of Moses 1,1–30): »In principio creavit deus...« In six days, God created the heavens and the earth, light and darkness, water and land, plants, animals and people. We offer this famous passage from the Good Book in two deluxe versons based on the Göttingen and Berlin copies of the Gutenberg Bible. Both are heralded as the surviving Bibles with the most beautiful illumination. Our versions 1 to 3 are based on the Berlin Gutenberg Bible. The initial »I« of »In principio creavit deus...« fills the left margin and depicts the story of Creation in six medaillions. Our variants StandardRibbed deckle-edge paper, format 42 x 30 cmThree-colour press prints produced on historical Gutenberg Museum machines (Original Heidelberg Cylinder) in three different print runs on mechanically-produced, hand-torn, ribbed deckle-edge paper. The outlines of ornamentation are also printed. Hand-colouredRibbed deckle-edge paper, format 42 x 30 cm, frame format 48 x 36 cm The standard pages (see above) are coloured by hand by our artists using tempera and gold inks. Hand-gilded Format ca. 45 x 32 cm, frame format 54 x 43 cmThese high-quality prints are produced as a handpress print in three colours on the Korrex Hannover on handmade paper bearing the Gutenberg Museum watermark. Finely embossed gold embellishments are added to the tempera ink colouring using a skill very few artists still master. A base material is applied to the paper layer by layer in an elaborate and time-consuming process to form a platform for the 22-carat gold leaf. This raises the ornaments from the surface of the paper to perfectly display the elegant shimmer of real gold. Deluxe (Berlin Bible)Deluxe (Göttingen Bible)