The oldest printed book in the world

A desert explorer, buddhas secret library, and the unearthing of the worlds oldest printed book. The astounding story of one books fivehundredyear odyssey. Dec 31, 2014 first printed book in india thambiran vanakkam in tamil 1578. A book thought to be the oldest surviving printed book in the world has gone on display at the british library. Bbc news entertainment oldest printed book on display. A chinese version of a key text in the mahayana buddhist tradition, this diamond sutrafound among. According to cambridge, paper currency first appeared in china during the 7th century, and was in wide circulation by the 11th century, 500 years before its. The diamond sutra is the worlds oldest known printed book. Inside the worlds oldest multicolor printed book cnn style. May 08, 2004 a book thought to be the oldest surviving printed book in the world has gone on display at the british library. It was produced on the 11 may 868, according to the western calendar. Reverently made for universal free distribution by wang jie on behalf of his two parents, 11 may 868. Some forms of this book are in circulation, renewed, translated, and critiqued by scholars. First printed book in india thambiran vanakkam in tamil 1578.

The precise date makes this particular edition of diamond sutra the worlds oldest printed and dated book in existence. A digitization of one of the worlds earliest printed books mahapraj. The oldest book printed with movable type is not the. The vajracchedika prajnaparamita sutra has been translated from sanskrit into english variously as the diamond sutra, the diamond cutter sutra, the vajra sutra and the vajra cutter sutra. The last few lines of the text, the colophon, identifies who printed it, when and why. Today, that scroll is housed at the british library and is acknowledged as the oldest dated printed book in existence. Heres the oldest multicolor printed book in the world. The earliest known alphabetic inscriptions, at serabit elkhadim c. The diamond sutra is part of a larger canon of early mahayana sutras known as the prajnaparamita meaning perfection of wisdom sutras.

Thus the oldest book in the world must surely be the gutenberg bible oldest printed book in the west, from c. The oldest multicolor printed book in the worldaleteia. Among the hundreds of caves was a chamber that served as a storeroom for books. May 11, 2019 the worlds earliest complete, dated and printed book goes back to may 11, 868. The diamond sutra was created with a method known as block printing, which utilized panels of handcarved wood blocks in reverse. The recuyell of the histories of troye, the oldest printed book in english. Jul 01, 2011 printed in 868ce, this copy of the diamond sutra is the oldest known printed and dated book in the world, predating the gutenberg bible by 600 years and any wooden block printing in europe by 500 years. Although there are block prints that preceded this, they are either not dated or no longer in existence. Printed in 868ce, this copy of the diamond sutra is the oldest known printed and dated book in the world, predating the gutenberg bible by 600 years and any wooden block printing in. Oct 10, 2014 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 definition of oldest book is tough to pin down. In 1455, gutenberg printed his first book, a latin bible. Printed copy of the diamond sutra the british library. 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.

Jul 28, 2017 heres the oldest multicolor printed book in the world. It is universally acknowledged as the most important of all printed books, writes margaret leslie davis, author of the recently published the lost gutenberg. A buddhist holy text, the diamond sutra is considered to be the oldest surviving dated printed book in the world. If the printing defined what a book was, then the oldest book would be the gutenberg bible, printed about 1450. The diamond sutra was printed using woodblock printinga technique where the text to be printed is carefully. 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. The worlds earliest complete, dated and printed book goes back to may 11, 868. Nov 07, 2018 among the hundreds of caves was a chamber that served as a storeroom for books. These texts were meant to be for the pharaoh and were reserved for him.

The recuyell of the histories of troye is a version of a french book written around 1463. May 04, 2006 the diamond sutra is the oldest known dated printed book ce 868, it was made by using block printing. Erica eisen the oldest printed book in the world lrb 12 october. And yet, this work came to the limelight only in the early 20th. Chinese cultures were printing pages of booklike structures using carved wood plates and simple presses hundreds of years before gutenberg. Leiden, universiteitsbibliotheek, vlq ms 9 italy, 550600. The diamond sutra is the oldest known dated printed book ce 868, it was made by using block printing. 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. Name the name of the oldest printed book of japan social science print culture and the modern world. Frontispiece of the diamond sutra, printed in china, 11 may 868. In the early iron age, alphabetic writing spread across the near east and southern europe.

The pyramid texts are known as one of the oldest religious texts in the world. The worlds oldest printed books were the wood block printings printed in china during the 7th century which were printed to spread the teachings of buddha and the sutras of buddhism. Equally incorrect are websites whose claims are based on the premise that a book is a printed object. The buddhist text known as the diamond sutra is believed to be the oldest surviving printed book in the world. The oldest surviving printed book in the world goes on display at londons british library. Meet the oldest printed book in the national library. Tamil was the first language that went in to print in india. Oct 26, 2017 in addition to its own cuneiform tablets and gutenberg bible, the library of congress holds one of the oldest examples of printing in the world, passages from a buddhist sutra, printed in a. The oldest treasures from 12 great libraries atlas obscura. Entertainment oldest printed book on display bbc news. 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 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 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. 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.

The gutenberg bible, also known as the 42line bible, is listed by the guinness book of world records as the worlds oldest mechanically printed. It is a 16 feet long scroll printed on a wood block in 868 ce. Five things to know about the diamond sutra, the worlds. Writer james chapman created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each book sold over the last 50 years he found. Although there are block prints that preceded this, they are either not dated or. Apr 20, 2020 a copy of this book in the british library dates to the year 868 ce. The bible was the first book produced by a printing press. It was found in a holy site called the mogao or peerless caves or the caves of a thousand buddhas, which was a. And yet, this work came to the limelight only in the early 20th century. 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. With the emergence of the brahmic family of scripts, languages of india are attested from after about 300 bc. This precise, recorded date helped us to determine that this is the oldest printed book in the national librarys collection. It was printed using a technique similar to that of gutenbergs, but using wooden blocks instead. Some scholars argue that it was not gutenberg but the chinese who had invented the movable type 6 or 7 centuries before his time.

The oldest extant printed book is a work of the diamond sutra and dates back to 868 ad, during the tang dynasty. Dec 20, 20 equally incorrect are websites whose claims are based on the premise that a book is a printed object. Harvard university usa museum has the oldest book thambiran vanakkam on display. Here are some of the oldest surviving books in the world. 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.

Golden etruscan orphic book six golden pages of the oldest book in history of mankind. The diamond sutra, a buddhist book from dunhuang, china from around 868 a. Name the name of the oldest printed book of japan social. The precise date makes this particular edition of diamond sutra the world s oldest printed and dated book in existence. May 17, 2019 the last few lines of the text, the colophon, identifies who printed it, when and why.

This is the oldest known printed book with an explicit date mentioned on it. What is considered the oldest book ever written in the world. What is the oldest surviving printed book in the world. 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. List of languages by first written accounts wikipedia. 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. This copy of the diamond sutra in chinese language, complete with a beautifully illustrated frontispiece, is the worlds earliest dated, printed book.

What is the title of the oldest book in print today. The oldest book printed with movable type is not the gutenberg. Chinese cultures were printing pages of book like structures using carved wood plates and simple presses hundreds of years before gutenberg. It is widely accepted that the earliest mechanically printed fulllength book was the gutenberg bible, printed in mainz, germany c. This wellresearched book was a unexpected and pleasant surprise, as was how super the photos look on my kindle fire. Aug 24, 2006 another oldest book in the world is the diamond sudra. Oldest mechanically printed book guinness world records. This question is pretty fraught for a couple of reasons.

The first gutenberg bible, printed in 1454 by johannes gutenberg, introduced the world to movable type, history tells us. A desert explorer, buddhas secret library, and the unearthing of the world s oldest printed book morgan, joyce, walters, conrad on. This book now resides at the british museum in london. Made in 868 ad and written in chinese, the text contains a significant dialogue on perception, and is one of the most important sacred works of the buddhist faith. 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. Another oldest book in the world is the diamond sudra. One such book is the sanskrit book, the vajracchedik. One of the oldest manuscripts of the quran in the world, the codex was housed in the mosque of amr ibn alas in egypt until the napoleonic expedition of 1798, when a few folios were brought back to paris. However, a common answer to the question would be the chinese diamond sutra because it is the oldest known dated printed book in the world, printed in the 9th year of xiantong era of the tang dynasty, i. The chinese translated version of this book is the worlds oldest available dated printed book. In 1475 englishman william caxton produced the first book printed in english, the recuyell of the historyes of troye.