BIBLE. LATIN. (GUTENBERG BIBLE: BOOK OF HAGGAI). [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, 1455]. Royal folio (388 × 287 mm). Featuring the complete Book of Haggai in a single leaf, together with the opening column of the Book of Zechariah.
Double columns, 42 lines. Handsomely rubricated in red and blue with a large chapter initial in blue, section title in red, chapter number with alternate red-blue elements, red capital strokes throughout the text and headlines of alternate red-blue lombards.
It is our unique privilege to offer a complete book from the celebrated Gutenberg Bible, one of the most valuable books in the world. Printed between 1450-55, the Gutenberg Bible was the first substantial European book printed with moveable type.
Provenance: This book derives from an incomplete copy that traces to Prince Karl Theodor von Pfalz-Sulzbach and the Court Library of Mannheim. It was subsequently held at the Royal Library of Munich. From thence it passed to Robert Curzon, 1810-1873 (14th Baron Zouche) and then to Mary Cecil Curzon Frankland, 1877-1965, 17th Baroness Zouche (from 1917). It was sold via Sothebys, on November 9th, 1920 (Lot 70) to Frank Sabin Gabriel Wells, who famously divided the fragment into individual leaves with some complete books of the Bible, presented as Noble Fragments in 1921 - with the Book of Hosea (the book at hand) being donated to Gettsyburg Seminary later that same year.
Binding: Custom calfskin book box housing a black morocco binding gilt titled on upper cover (Stikeman), including A. Edward Newton's accompanying essay, A Noble Fragment, 1921.
Valuation: This listing is conservatively priced in reference to the current market value of a complete book from the Gutenberg Bible. It is the only available such example in the world. For the serious collector, investor(s) or institution, this represents the most affordable option to secure a meaningful portion of the first printed book in history of mankind.