AnalogSenses

By ÁLVARO SERRANO

Princeton University receives the largest donation of rare books in its history, including the first six Gutenberg Bibles →

February 18, 2015 |

Interesting news from Princeton University:

The Scheide Library has been housed in Princeton’s Firestone Library since 1959, when Scheide moved the collection from his hometown of Titusville, Pennsylvania. It holds the first six printed editions of the Bible, starting with the 1455 Gutenberg Bible, the earliest substantial European printed book; the original printing of the Declaration of Independence; Beethoven’s autograph (in his own handwriting) music sketchbook for 1815-16, the only outside Europe; Shakespeare’s first, second, third and fourth folios; significant autograph music manuscripts of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Wagner; a lengthy autograph speech by Abraham Lincoln from 1856 on the problems of slavery; and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s original letter and telegram copy books from the last weeks of the Civil War.

What a fascinating development. I’m not a religious man, but I do love rare books, and the historical value of the first six Gutenberg Bibles is undeniable.