Today's post is on The Lost Gutenberg: The Astounding Story of One Book's Five-Hundred-Year Odyssey by Margaret Leslie Davis. It is 304 pages long and is published by TarcherPerigee. The cover is half picture of some of the people who owned the book and the bottom half is from the bible itself. The intended reader is someone who is interested in printing history, Gutenberg Bibles, and the people who owned them. There is no foul language, no sex and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the dust jacket- The never-before-told story of one extremely rare copy of the Gutenberg Bible, and its impact on the lives of the fanatical few who were lucky enough to own it.
For rare-book collectors, an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible--of which there are only 48 in existence--is the undisputed gem of any collection. When Estelle Doheny, the eccentric widow of oil tycoon Edward Dohney, finally obtained an original copy, it was the culmination of a forty-year pursuit. Estelle, the first woman and perhaps the most devout owner of the Bible, would be its last private owner as well. After her death, the unique Bible would go on to enable scientist- using the very machine that isolated plutonium for the atomic bomb- to make the most important advance in understanding the first printed book.
In The Lost Gutenberg, Margaret Leslie Davis richly recounts five centuries in the life of this copy of the Bible from its very creation by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany; to its ownership by the British heir to the Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce empire; to its brush with one of the most notorious crimes of the twentieth century, a steel vault in Tokyo. The Lost Gutenberg draws readers into this incredible saga, inviting them into the colorful lives of each of its collectors along the way. Through vivid storytelling and unprecedented access into private records, Davis offers a unique and riveting history for bibliophiles and book lovers alike. Exploring books as objects of desire across centuries, Davis leaves readers not only with a broader understanding of the culture of rare-book collectors, but with a deeper awareness of the importance of books in our world.
Review- This is an interesting account of one books' life and the lives of the people who interacted with it. We start towards the end of the story with Estella Doheny getting her Gutenberg. Then we back-step to the creation of the Bible, why it is important in the history of printing, and its other owners. The story is interesting, if at times a little too detailed, the people we meet inside are interesting as well. The writing is good, the notes are very detailed, and bibliography is excellent so if you wanted to you can track everything down for yourself. If you are interested in printing history or want to know why the Gutenberg Bibles are considered so important then you should read this.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
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