The Gutenberg Bible is widely considered to be the first book ever printed using a printing press (it is not the very first, but the first major work). Completed in the fifteenth century (1455) by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany, the book is also referred to as the Mazarin Bible. Currently, there are 48 Gutenberg Bibles (of the 42-line variety) in existence in the world, with eleven of them in the United States.
Each copy of the Gutenberg is unique, due to the hand work it took to complete the illuminations of the books. The illuminated manuscripts are quite beautiful (I have spent quite a lot of time with one of them), and the colors are remarkably still vibrant.
Because of Gutenberg's work, books were now widely distributable and easier to acquire, beginning the "Age of the Printed Book."
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