British Library copies of the 42-line Bible become a durable public knowledge object
The British Library holds Gutenberg Bible copies among its early printed treasures and treats them as public collection objects. In the causal graph this event strengthens Digital Learning Access, a driver that weakens Learning Poverty Rate (low- and middle-income countries) — an improving welfare path.
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The British Library holds Gutenberg Bible copies among its early printed treasures and treats them as public collection objects. This Fact stores later public access in London, not the 1450s press run.
Context
A vellum copy on exhibition is not a 1455 parish literacy rate. It is still a knowledge instrument. LOC and BnF copies are separate rows so one city is not the whole world.
Johannes Gutenberg is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.
Why it matters
Museum-access path. High confidence on the public holding.
A case in St Pancras is not Helmasperger. Keep the lawsuit in Göttingen’s later custody.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Johannes Gutenberg
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.15 · verified
The book is his shop’s product. The London public holding is a later state library act.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactBritish Library copies of the 42-line Bible become a durable public knowledge object
- strengthensDriverDigital Learning Access
- weakensIndicators (3)Learning Poverty Rate (low- and middle-income countries)
impact weight 0.55 · Effect from 1 January 1829 · verified
A national library copy made the 1450s Bible inspectable without a private princely chapel.
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.22 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.4)
Observed
70% of 10-year-olds · 70 above the normal line (2022)
Worse than normalTwo readings: 57% of 10-year-olds (2019) and 70% of 10-year-olds (2022).
20192022 Above normal = worse
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.19 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.35)
Observed
472 PISA score points · 28 below the normal line (2022)
Worse than normal7 readings, 2003–2022: fell from 499 PISA score points to 472 PISA score points.
Above normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.17 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.3)
Observed
11% of primary-school-age children · 11 above the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalAbove normal = worse
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.British Library — Explore the collection (Gutenberg Bible among early printed books)British Library · High credibility · verified
- 2.British LibraryBritish Library · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
The British Library portal and its collection-explore page independently present the Gutenberg Bible as a public holding.
Established: BL Gutenberg Bible copies as public collection objects. Not established: that Gutenberg sent the book to London, or that exhibition created mass literacy.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorJohannes Gutenberg
- contributed toFactBritish Library copies of the 42-line Bible become a durable public knowledge object
- strengthensDriverDigital Learning Access
- weakensIndicatorLearning Poverty Rate (low- and middle-income countries)
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). British Library copies of the 42-line Bible become a durable public knowledge object. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/gut-bl-bible
https://factrail.ai/facts/gut-bl-bible
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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