The Type that Changed the World : The Enigma of Gutenberg's B42 Type

The more we look at the printed letters of Johannes Gutenberg's famous 42-line Bible, the more strange and enigmatic his "invention" actually seems.

While Gutenberg's types appear like an imitation of the Gothic letter hand that was used for manuscripts bibles of the 15th century, in order to make his imitation convincing Gutenberg had to use (by some estimates) at least 270 different characters, far more than will be found in any modern type sort.

But that's not the only thing that made the B42 type unique; join us as we journey back to the early years of printing to discover the unique qualities of Gutenberg's first type!