Page from Gutenberg's 36-line bible. Johannes Gutenberg (c.1398-1468) was a pioneering printing inventor who lived in Germany. His most famous work is the Gutenberg Bible, a 42-line bible that had about 180 copies mass produced in about 1455, using oil-based ink and wooden printing presses that were also invented by Gutenberg. The 36-line bible was printed a few years after, in around 1460, but is considered to be more rare than the 42-line version. This copy of the 36-line book is from Mainz, Germany.