I was watching The Day After Tomorrow and when that guy in the library said it was, it made me think. Because even if you don't believe in/support it, it is still pretty old.

I doubt it was the first book published but it is probably one of the oldest one still being published.

I think it would have more appeal if it was called The Bibble.

it would depend on your definition of 'to publish'.

Depends on what "publish" means (what jackketch said). If you mean the first book to be written and then handed out to others, not in the slightest. Remember the bible is a compilation of chosen written works. All the books in the bible are older than the bible itself. The code of hamirabi is one of the oldest written works (IIRC)

First book to be mass produced. Yep.

The first book to be mass produced by the printing press was the bible.

No, there are probably more, but a book that pops into my mind is the Iliad by Homer. People read that book around 1000 BC already, so.. meh

well it depends what you mean, your words can be skewed. man has been publishing books since we could write with ink on paper. the movie shows an "original gutenburg(sp?) bible" that was the first book printed in mass, on gutenburgs printing press

it was the first book published with movable print/type, it was Ghutenburghs Bible..

Edit - typo

[This message has been edited by Solisious (edited 07-25-2005).]

It was the first book printed on a printing press using movable type (the invention by Gutenburg, not the blog software :P). The reason this is so important is that movable type was what made it possible to print a few thousand each of a variety of books, rather than a few thousand of just one book.

Before Gutenburg's invention of movable type, it was one of the only books printed, since the presses pre-Gutenburg were very very limited in their ability to print varieties of books easily. Bibles were printed almost exclusively because they were seen as being the most important of books. (In medieval Europe anyway, I do not know whether some forms of primitive printing presses might have existed any further back than that.)

I don't believe the bible was the very first book ever published I could be wrong though. If I'm not mistaken, the church did try to suppress the printing press from being made available to the masses.

Like the other said, the Gut. WAS the first book printed with moveable type. Previously, the closest anyone came to mass printing was by using page-plates that were carved or etched by hand.

And the church had a habit of suppressing ANYTHING that would help people think for themselves, so that idea rings true.

I think the very first book printer is a swedish invetion..

quote:Originally posted by Dre Crabbe:

No, there are probably more, but a book that pops into my mind is the Iliad by Homer. People read that book around 1000 BC already, so.. meh

TOLD since 1000 BC, yes.

READ... no.

The Iliad wasn't originally a written work.

Shut up wise guy the Iliad was already written down in ancient times, about 500 years after the death of Homer, who died around 1600 BC. Do the maths and try not to be a pseudo intellectual.

(Your point was irrelevant, anyway )

The oldest "book" we have is the epic of gilgamesh from at least 3500 BCE, written in cuneform on clay tablets. However, "book" is different than "tablet" which is different than "scroll." Eefore printing they all were "manuscript," written by hand.

So, no the bible was not the first book, nor was it the first book published. The bible was the first book "printed."

I think we should all just agree that the bible is just "A very old story book"

what most people said. The bible was the first book printed, but I don't believe this. I know the first stuff written was by merchants to keep tallies of there merchandice(spel?).