New Exhibition: Gutenberg’s Cradle

Our new exhibition offers a rare chance to see books printed in the decades after the invention of printing by Johannes Gutenberg in the 1450s.

Marsh’s Library has 75 of these incredibly rare books known as incunables, a word derived from the Latin for ‘cradle’. Hence, the title of the exhibition: Gutenberg’s Cradle.

A striking feature of the books on display is how quickly printers perfected the new technology. Many contain inscriptions or comments left by their first owners. Other volumes have beautiful woodcut images of the creation of the universe, famous historical people, or extraordinary events such as comets and eclipses.

It was common for printed books to be ‘improved’ with hand-applied decoration during this period. The gold leaf on this book (left) is as exquisite today as when it was first applied over 500 years ago.

The exhibition will run until March 2025.