The first book ever to be put into print via press rather than arduous hand copying was the Gutenberg Bible. The print run began on 23 February 1455 in Mainz, Germany and ended approximately three years later, with an estimated 180 copies of the Bible put into print. The Gutenberg Bible was not entirely print – it was rubricated and illuminated by hand after it went through the press, but manufacture of the Bible took substantially less time than it would have in a conventional scriptorium.

It is said that Johannes Gutenberg, the Bible's namesake, chose to print the Bible in Vulgate, or common Latin, because he felt it would be more accessible to the people. The cost of the Bible, combined with literacy rates, make this claim somewhat dubious. It is more likely that he chose to print a certain version of the Bible because he knew it would sell well, and that many middle class Germans, his target market, would be more comfortable reading Vulgate than a more sophisticated version of Latin.

The Gutenberg Bible is remarkable for a number of reasons. It is quite clearly documented as the first book in the West to be put into print using a press and movable type, although there is some debate as to whether or not the Gutenberg was the first book ever printed globally, as some Eastern historians argue that the use of block print plates in China and Japan precedes the Gutenberg Bible. Since no strong evidence exists to support the use of movable type in China before the production of the Gutenberg Bible, it is generally accepted to be the first book ever printed.

Gutenberg's Bible revolutionized the society it was brought into, where a single book could take three years to reproduce in a scriptorium, thereby making reading material inaccessible to all but the most wealthy. Although the Gutenberg Bible incorporated hand illumination and binding, it was a tremendous step towards technological automation in Europe. A complete copy of the Bible has 1,282 pages, and most editions were bound in two volumes, rather than one. Of the 180 copies produced, approximately 45 were printed on vellum, and the remainder on paper.

In 2006, 11 complete copies of the Gutenberg Bible on vellum existed in museums around the world, with the bulk held in Germany. One copy of the New Testament alone is known to exist on vellum, and an additional 49 partially completed paper copies exist. Very few copies of the Bible are in private hands, and the museums that possess even partial copies give the Gutenberg Bible pride of place in their collections.