Gutenberg Digital

Citation

Desmarais, N. (2001), "Gutenberg Digital", Library Review, Vol. 50 No. 4, pp. 210-212. https://doi.org/10.1108/lr.2001.50.4.210.10

Gutenberg Digital is a two‐disc set produced for the 600th anniversary of Johann Gutenberg (c.1400‐1468). It contains the two volumes of the Niedersächsische Staats – und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen’s exemplar of the Gutenberg Bible, the Model Book which was used to illuminate the Göttingen Bible, and the “Helmasperger Notarial Instrument,” a document which records the legal dispute between Gutenberg and his backer Johannes Fust. There are also explanatory texts about Gutenberg and his life and the early period of letterpress printing and its impact. The product requires a Web browser and the Flash plug‐in to view the Model Book and the “Helmasperger Notarial Instrument.” Disc 2 contains Netscape Communicator 4.72 with Flash, or one can download Flash from the Internet. One also needs to activate Java and Javascript in the browser.

When viewing the Bible, one can choose either a German or an English interface and any of three different viewing modes. Overview mode (the default when one selects a book from the pulldown menu) displays thumbnails of all the pages of a selected book. Beneath each page are two icons – one for double‐page view and one for single‐page view. Double‐page view displays the pages as an open book, but the text is not legible. For close examination, one would select single‐page view (also accessible from double‐page view) which displays at a resolution of 965 pixels wide by 1389 pixels high. However, in both modes, the viewing area is only in the bottom half of the screen. This means that, in single‐page view, one can only read seven lines at a time, so a reader does a lot of scrolling. Arrow buttons at the top of each screen allow "turning the pages." Each folio is clearly identified, e.g. Vol. 1 fol. 129r, and displays as a page image, so the text is not searchable.

Illuminations: One can compare the patterns of the Model Book with the decoration in the Bible by clicking the “overview” button that displays 14 thumb‐nail views representing the patterns of the Model Book. Clicking on a thumb‐nail image displays the pattern of the Model Book on the left and help text and any illuminations of the Bible which can be ascribed to a pattern on the right. This section requires a lot of scrolling, and there are buttons above the Bible page to pan in various directions as well as to zoom in and out. The detailed view is much more useful. Clicking on one of the thumb‐nail pages loads the page in a new window which can be moved or re‐sized. As one moves the mouse over an illumination, rectangular frames identify sections that may be viewed in detail. A single click on one of these frames causes the selected element to “jump off the page” and move to the foreground in an enlarged form. This provides excellent viewing of the details, comparable to examining the original with a magnifying glass.

Gutenberg Digital is an impressive work for book lovers. Not only can one now own a reproduction of a Gutenberg Bible, but one can also examine it in ways that are impossible even in a museum. Artists and historians of the book will appreciate the detailed views of the illuminations and design elements. The inclusion of the Model Book and the “Helmasperger Notarial Instrument” provide additional insight into the designs and illustrations of the book and of the background history of its production and the man who produced it. The product runs entirely from the CD and only requires a Web browser, so there are no connection costs or delays in waiting to download page images or to view illustration details. Every library and book lover should own a copy.