Harry Ransom Center Treasures





Left: Biblia latina, commonly known as the Gutenberg Bible, is the first substantial book printed in the West with moveable metal type. Before its printing in 1454 or 1455, books were either copied by hand or printed from engraved wooden blocks-processes that could take months or years to complete. Johann Gutenberg invented a printing press that revolutionized the distribution of knowledge by making it possible to produce many copies of a work in a relatively short amount of time.

Biblia latina (Mainz, Germany: Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, between 1454 and 1456). Harry Ransom Center. Photo Courtesy TxDOT/Stan A. Williams.


Right: The First Photograph, or more specifically, the earliest known surviving photograph made in a camera, was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 or 1827. The image depicts the view from an upstairs window at Niépce's estate, Le Gras, in the Burgundy region of France.

Photograph from Nature [heliograph on pewter]. Helmut Gernsheim Photography Collection. Harry Ransom Center. Photo by Eric Beggs.