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September 28, 2006: "The Australian" Waxes Eloquent on Book Collecting
"The tendency to assemble groups of first edition works meant that many 15th and early 16th century libraries later became the basis of important public collections. The Bodleian Library at Oxford and the Harleian Library at the British Museum were founded on the private collections of Sir Thomas Bodley and of the first earl of Oxford, Robert Harley. In terms of age alone, the world's oldest surviving mechanically printed full-length book is thought to be the Bible printed by Johannes Gutenberg in Germany around 1455. "
