A leaf from the Gutenberg Bible: Ezekiel 32.13 to 33.26
(front and back views- please click on above image to enlarge)

"The Gutenberg Bible may be described without the slightest exaggeration not only as the earliest but also the greatest book in the world. It is the first book from the printing press, having been preceded only by a few small pieces, single leaves, almanacs, and grammatical booklets of which merely stray fragments remain. It is one of the most beautiful books ever printed: the quiet dignity of those twelve hundred and odd pages of dark stately type, the deep black of the ink, the broadness of the margins, the glossy crispness of the paper, may have been equalled, but they have never been surpassed; and in its very cradle, the printers' art, thanks to the Gutenberg Bible, shines forth indeed as an art as much and more than as a craft... Did Gutenberg realize that by setting up the Holy Text in type he was heralding one of the greatest movements of human thought in the history of the world?" (Seymour De Ricci, noted bibliographer).

Of the estimated three hundred copies of the Gutenberg Bible printed, only 48 copies (31 complete) are known to exist today. If a relatively complete Gutenberg Bible were to appear on the current market, it would likely command in excess of $50 million.