Genesis. Göttingen Gutenberg Bible
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 colours of the Göttingen Gutenberg Bible are more muted than those of the Berlin copy. The illumination is purely ornamental, based on a pattern book. The initial I, framed in gold, spans two-thirds of the inner margin. The elegantly curved letter is entwined with arcanthus in sumptuous shades of blue. Vines and flowers in shades of blue, red, pink and green sprout from the top and bottom of the initial. The title of the page is written in small red letters.
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 cm
Storage
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.
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