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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Kelly Burke

The 1920s desecration of a Gutenberg Bible shocked the US – but miraculously gave a Jewish family new life in Australia

Johannes Gutenberg showing the first proof of a Bible printed on the moveable-type printing press he invented in 1439
Author Michael Visontay has so far established the location of 120 ‘noble fragments’ of a Gutenberg Bible sold by a relative a century ago, including 11 that made their way to Australia. Photograph: ClassicStock/Alamy

It was a brazen act of extreme literary vandalism that desecrated one of the world’s most valuable books. But it also allowed a family of Holocaust survivors to forge a new life in Australia.

The extraordinary tale was uncovered by the author and journalist Michael Visontay while researching his family history during Covid lockdown and has now been published as a book, Noble Fragments.

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