When was the first Book printed?

The first known book to be printed from movable type was the Bible, probably in the year 1455. It was certainly on sale by the middle of the year 1456. The book was printed at Mainz in Germany. It is often called the Gutenberg Bible, from the name of the man who is generally supposed to have been the printer, although two other men called Fust and Schoeffer are also associated with the task.

Sometimes this Bible is called The Forty-two line Bible, because it had forty-two lines to the page. Another name for it is the Mazarin Bible, because a copy was discovered in the Mazarin Library in Paris in the year 1760. A copy of the first volume, in fine condition and with the old binding still on it, was sold for £21,000 at an auction in London in 1947.

The first Bible to be printed in Ireland in 1716 made an error in the Gospel of St. John, chapter 5, verse 14. The text should read “Sin no more”, but the printer put “Sin on more”. A much more costly mistake – for the printers – was made in the reign of Charles I. Psalm 44 says: “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God”. But the printer made it read: “The fool hath said in his heart, there is a God”. That little slip was punished with a fine of £3,000 and the destruction of all the copies – proving it pays to be careful!

In book-printing history the name of the Englishman William Caxton, called the Father of English Printing, will always be remembered. He set up his press in 1476 close to Westminster Abbey.