The chinese diamond sutra, the oldest known dated printed. The diamond sutra is the first printed book in history, predating the gutenberg bible by almost 600 years. The dead sea scrolls are fragments of the oldest hebrew bible text, while the aleppo codex and the leningrad codex are the oldest complete versions, written by the masoretes in the 10th and 11th centuries, respectively. The story of the worlds earliest dated printed book wood, frances, barnard, mark on. May 08, 2004 a book thought to be the oldest surviving printed book in the world has gone on display at the british library. Smart news keeping you current five things to know about the diamond sutra, the worlds oldest dated printed book printed over 1,100 years ago, a. Most christians would likely predict that genesis was the oldest book in the bible given that it details the creation. The oldest extant printed book is a work of the diamond sutra and dates back to 868 ad, during the tang dynasty.
Nov 07, 2018 among the hundreds of caves was a chamber that served as a storeroom for books. The book is valued and revered for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities as well as its historic significance. The oldest printed work in the world, which dates back to. Before books there were codexes, before codexes there were scro. Inside the worlds oldest multicolor printed book cnn style. A correct description of the book would be that it contains the oldest surviving complete manuscript of the new testament, together with sections of the old testament and books of the apocrypha. Although not much is known about the etruscan gold book, it is believed to be oldest book in the world as it dates back to around 600 bce. The third eggestein bible was set from the copy of the. When searching on its important to find copies that match the book in your possession as accurately as possible. Sanders says he hasnt seen anything like it outside of museums, and never expected to find something like it in sandy, utah. Abebooks has been part of the rare book world since going live in 1996. Reverently made for universal free distribution by wang jie on behalf of his two parents, 11 may 868.
These texts were meant to be for the pharaoh and were reserved for him. What we do know is that the oldest known texts5,000yearold iranian tabletsare mostly accounts of property shows you where our concerns lie, and that the first extended works were made in egypt a few hundred years later. The printing of this book, as according to the colophon the author or printer note that usually appears at the end of a book, was completed on february 28th, 550 years ago. During the 5th or 6th dynasties of the old kingdom in ancient egypt, the text was carved on to the walls and within the sarcophagi of the saqqara pyramids. It provided the model for several later editions, including the 36 line bible, mentelins latin bible, and the first and third eggestein bibles. The precise date makes this particular edition of diamond sutra the worlds oldest printed and dated book in existence. First off, book gets a bit misleading when you are talking that old.
This 15th century gutenberg bible is pretty old but not nearly old enough to. Jul 28, 2017 the oldest, most complete gospel book on earth is in ethiopia. The oldest multicolor printed book in the worldaleteia. Thus the oldest book in the world must surely be the gutenberg bible oldest printed book in the west, from c. The expectant staff at cambridge universitys library had an inkling of what theyd find when the bindings creaked open and the contents of the world s oldest multicolor printed book were finally. The oldest extant text ever printed with movable type predates gutenberg himself born in 1400 by 23 years, and predates the printing of his bible by 78 years. Til the worlds oldest printed book is the diamond sutra. Is a book that was never printed, or bound, not a book. Five things to know about the diamond sutra, the worlds oldest dated printed book printed over 1,100 years ago, a chinese copy of the diamond sutra at the british library is one of the most. So i thought it would be refreshing to find the oldest bookstore in the world to get a little perspective. A gutenberg bible, printed in 1456 and considered the first book of movable.
Name the name of the oldest printed book of japan social science print culture and the modern world. Til the worlds oldest printed book is the diamond sutra and it was created in 868 a. The pyramid texts are known as one of the oldest religious texts in the world. This precise, recorded date helped us to determine that this is the oldest printed book in the national librarys collection. Equally incorrect are websites whose claims are based on the premise that a book is a printed object. We cover everything from the earliest surviving printed books, to the oldest known surviving book in. Erica eisen the oldest printed book in the world lrb 12 october. Books as we know them a stack of paper bound between two covers became a thing long after the bible. The whole codex consists, with a few exceptions, of quires of eight leaves, a format popular throughout the middle ages. The gutenberg bible, also known as the 42line bible, is listed by the guinness book of world records as the worlds oldest mechanically printed book the first copies of which were printed in 14541455 ad. The diamond sutra was printed by method of woodblock printing, a strenuous method in which the text to be printed would be carved into a woodblocks surface, essentially to be used to stamp the words onto the writing surface medium. Johannes gutenberg developed the movable type printing press in the 1440s in fact, any printed book dating from 1500 or earlier is known as an incunabulum, and is virtually guaranteed to be rare and valuable. Take it a step further and ask what if your favorite book wasnt printed but hand written, would it.
Golden etruscan orphic book six golden pages of the. These were the first cookbooks published by black people in america. Bbc news entertainment oldest printed book on display. By the printed definition of a book, would a 3,000 year old papyrus written by hand not be more of a book than a very popular novel downloaded a million times that was never printed. The worlds earliest complete, dated and printed book goes back to may 11, 868. A desert explorer, buddhas secret library, and the unearthing of the world s oldest printed book morgan, joyce, walters, conrad on. Oct 10, 2014 with news this week of the discovery of what could be the earliest known siddur, a jewish prayer book dated at around 840 ad we have put together a list of 10 of the oldest known surviving books in the world today. The diamond sutra is the worlds oldest known printed book. This is a list of languages arranged by the approximate dates of the oldest existing texts recording a complete sentence in the language. The oldest among them being the first fruits of decani printed in 1852 by gedeon jurisic, a priestmonk who visited decani and was at one time a member of the brotherhood. Wikipedia the pyramid texts are known as one of the oldest religious texts in the world. With news this week of the discovery of what could be the earliest known siddur, a jewish prayer book dated at around 840 ad we have put together a list of 10 of the oldest known surviving books in the world today.
Which book has been printed in the maximum number of languages and these scripts. Textually, it also had an influence on future editions of the bible. The gutenberg bible had a profound effect on the history of the printed book. It is the worlds oldest book in the history of mankind, made of gold and dated to 600 bc. A chinese version of a key text in the mahayana buddhist tradition, this diamond sutrafound among. The entire book is made out of 24 carat gold and consists of six sheets bound together, which have illustrations of a horserider, a mermaid, a harp, and soldiers. Reverently made for universal free distribution by wang jie on behalf of his two parents. If the printing defined what a book was, then the oldest book would be the gutenberg bible, printed about 1450. Oldest printed book published on may 11, 868, publishers in china printed the diamond sutra, today the oldest surviving dated, printed book. The oldest book in the bible is, unsurprisingly, found in the old testament. The expectant staff at cambridge universitys library had an inkling of what theyd find when the bindings creaked open and the contents of the worlds oldest multicolor printed book were finally. Dec 20, 20 equally incorrect are websites whose claims are based on the premise that a book is a printed object. The very first book i saw was frances wood and mark barnards the diamond sutra. The worlds oldest printed book was produced in china in 868 ad.
Resource library this day in geographic history may 11, 868 ce. What is considered the oldest book ever written in the world. A copy of this sacred text, which was discovered in the mogao caves of dunhuang, china, has been described as being the world s earliest complete survival of a dated printed book. The worlds oldest newspapers still being published today. The earliest examples of woodblock printing are estimated to date as far back as 220 ce. The world s oldest printed book was produced in china in 868 ad. The printing itself was done using large wooden blocks and, although earlier printed books have survived, this copy of the diamond sutra is the oldest that bears a specific date. Five things to know about the diamond sutra, the worlds. There are the irish monks hand bound books from the 5th to early 7th century that tells ancient genealogy and its history. And yet, this work came to the limelight only in the early 20th century. In 1455, gutenberg printed his first book, a latin bible. Found in a walled up cave in china along with other printed materials, the book is made up of chinese characters printed on a scroll of grey printed paper, wrapped along a wooden pole. The oldest love poem in the world is only slightly younger.
While individual sheets of woodblockprinted paper have been found dating to the early tang dynasty 7th century, the diamond sutra is the earliest complete book to be found intact. Among the hundreds of caves was a chamber that served as a storeroom for books. Chinese cultures were printing pages of booklike structures using carved wood plates and simple presses hundreds of years before gutenberg. Among the old printed books in the decani library, there are the writings of wellknown decani abbots and monks from 19th and the first half of 20th century. It does not include undeciphered scripts, though there are various claims without wide acceptance, which, if substantiated, would push backward the first attestation of certain languages. The precision with which one can date the creation of this book is purely down to the fact that it gives us its publication datethe only such case on this list it is, according to the british library, where it now resides, the earliest example of a dated, printed book in the world. The oldest printed work in the world, which dates back to ad 868 is. May 17, 2019 the last few lines of the text, the colophon, identifies who printed it, when and why.
In the world of book collecting, old means very, very old. Movements and types of graphics diamond sutra gone, gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond, enlightenment hail. The diamond sutra, which bears the date 868 ad, was found in a walledup cave in dunhuang, northwest china, in 1907, along with other printed items. The oldest book printed with movable type is not the. However, the unique artifact can be seen at the national museum of history in sofia, bulgaria where it was placed on public display. It is the jikji, printed in korea, a collection of buddhist teachings by seon master baegun and printed in movable type by his students seokchan and daijam in 77. The scroll comprises of seven panels of paper, each of which was printed from a single block and stuck together to create a single scroll. The story of the world s earliest dated printed book wood, frances, barnard, mark on. Oldest printed book published national geographic society. Written on a tablet about the size of a cell phone, the 4,000 year old sumerian ballad also contains the oldest recorded chatup line. The definition of oldest book is tough to pin down.
May 10, 2017 the printing itself was done using large wooden blocks and, although earlier printed books have survived, this copy of the diamond sutra is the oldest that bears a specific date. What we do know is that the oldest known texts5,000yearold iranian tablets are. Sutherland more than sixty years ago, a very unique discovery was accidentally made in the valley of struma river, the greatest river in western bulgaria, during road construction works a small book was found in an old tomb covered with frescoes. Mar 27, 2020 etruscan language had regrettably lapsed into oblivion, and today no one can read this over 2,5 thousand years old book.
New revelations come to light in a steady stream, new interpretations of old information are essayed by scholars every year and the way people look at history changes, too. The question of what is the oldest book in the world will likely never be answered. Meet the oldest printed book in the national library. A copy of this sacred text, which was discovered in the mogao caves of dunhuang, china, has been described as being the worlds earliest complete survival of a dated printed book.
Here are several papers from around the world that have weathered many centuries, and are still publishing today. A 540yearold bookthe first to be printed in englishhas sold at auction for more than a million pounds. Heres the oldest multicolor printed book in the world. Name the name of the oldest printed book of japan social. The gutenberg bible also known as the 42line bible, the mazarin bible or the b42 was among the earliest major books printed using massproduced movable metal type in europe. This question is pretty fraught for a couple of reasons. Well known to book collectors and booklovers, our site is an excellent resource for discovering a rough value of an old book. A book thought to be the oldest surviving printed book in the world has gone on display at the british library. The buddhist text known as the diamond sutra is believed to be the oldest surviving printed book in the world. The explicit public domain dedication is also the first in the history of. The codex consists of parchment, originally in double sheets, which may have measured about 40 by 70 cm.
You have captivated me, let me stand trembling before you. The oldest, most complete gospel book on earth is in ethiopia. A buddhist holy text, the diamond sutra is considered to be the oldest surviving dated printed book in the world. In 1475 englishman william caxton produced the first book printed in english, the recuyell of the historyes of troye. May 11, 2016 smart news keeping you current five things to know about the diamond sutra, the worlds oldest dated printed book printed over 1,100 years ago, a chinese copy of the diamond sutra at the british. It marked the start of the gutenberg revolution and the age of printed books in the west. I do think that the dating of this document makes it.
This is the section of the book that will now be on display at the british museum. The last few lines of the text, the colophon, identifies who printed it, when and why. History isnt static, as most people believe, its actually dynamic and ever changing. The diamond sutra is the world s oldest known printed book. Its 200 years older than the oldest book printed in america says sanders. Jun 28, 2016 a copy of this sacred text, which was discovered in the mogao caves of dunhuang, china, has been described as being the worlds earliest complete survival of a dated printed book.