Collecting The most treasured books, now mostly in libraries, museums, and private collections, are called incunabula, a word of Latin origin defined in the dictionary as "swaddling clothes, cradle, origin, birthplace, from cunae, meaning cradle; earliest stages, beginnings, infancy," thus, "books printed in the infancy of printing, that is, before 1501 A.D." Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, Germany, is generally considered to be the inventor of movable type. It was he who printed the Gutenberg Bible in about 1456. This Latin version of the Bible is probably the first large book to have been printed from movable type and almost certainly the greatest single step forward in the history of printing. As such, it is the world's most famous book.

There were not a great many books produced during the "cradle" days of printing, and a large percentage of the few that were printed have been lost or destroyed. Naturally then, those that survive are the rarest of all books and the most costly. In addition to the work of Gutenberg, books of the incunabula period inclule milestones in print produced by Nicolas Jenson, William Caxton, and Aldus Manutius. Possession of a work by any one of these famous early printers is the unattainable dream of many book collectors. Most bibliophiles, however, are reconciled to the fact that the dream is unattainable and are satisfied to see these treasures in libraries and museums. Occasionally, one will reach the auction block in connection with the sale of a large estate, but the bidding will begin where the average book lover's annual income ends.




Page 1 2 3 4 5 6
Home > Collecting > Books

July 5, 2008