Gutenberg Bible facsimile gifted to city by owners
\A picture of the Bible at its current location inside the Guttenberg Public Library. The books were gifted to the city earlier this year from the Millham family. (Press photo by Steve Van Kooten)
An article clipping from the Guttenberg Press in 1989 that shows Charles Millham with the Gutenberg Bible facsimile. Millham played an important role in bringing the book to Guttenberg.
By Steve Van Kooten
The City of Guttenberg can now call themselves the proud owners of the Gutenberg Bible facsimile that is on display at the public library.
The facsimile, one of 310 made in Leipzig, Germany, in 1913, replicates the original Bibles printed by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century.
"The Bibles belong here; they belong to the town," said Chuck Millham during an interview in 2013.
Millham, along with his family, gifted the books to the city earlier this year.
"The conversation about it being gifted came through previous conversations. Chuck reached out to me last December to inquire whether the Bible was insured, more so than the general city's insurance policy," said Guttenberg Library Director Katey Simon.
After Millham's inquiry, the city discovered that the books were only insured under the city's general policy, and Millham requested that they add additional coverage.
Millham eventually elected to gift the books to the city after conversations with his family.
Simon said that the city has to keep the volumes insured and curate them to preserve their condition as part of the gift agreement.
A letter to the city council this past April claims the books' present valuation is approximately $32,000.
A transatlantic journey
Several people played an important role in getting the facsimile from Mainz, Germany, to rural Iowa.
In the 2013 interview, Millham said his father, Charles Millham, a former editor for the Guttenberg Press, helped fund its move to the United States in the 1940s.
He named two other Guttenberg residents who made the transfer possible: former Postmaster Walter Jacobs and a serviceman named Laverne Moser.
Millham's account and articles published in the press agree that the serviceman located the books in Germany with direction from Jacobs. After procuring the volumes, he also transported them across the ocean.
"I think the town owes Laverne a tremendous debt of gratitude for this," said Chuck. "His name has been pretty peripheral, and it sort of sounds like he picked up the Bible at a German five-and-dime, but that's not the case."
He also gave credit to Moser in a letter sent to the city council earlier this year.
Once the books arrived, the elder Millham "almost immediately" displayed them at the Guttenberg Press' shop. Later, some controversy arose over security at that location, according to his son.
"The Bible was right in the window, where anybody could've broken through and taken it," he recalled. "People did stop in and look at it. Inevitably, people wanted to handle it, and that had to be stopped for fear it would be damaged."
The books moved from the Guttenberg Press office in 1989 after more than 30 years on display, according to an article from the Guttenberg Press.
In April 1989, Charles Millham and the library negotiated an agreement for an indefinite loan of the books. The library had to keep the books insured against "all hazards" with a $5,000 policy.
The agreement had other conditions: the books had to be displayed for the public, the display structure had to include glass to prevent damage from contaminants, and the display location had to avoid prolonged damage from direct sunlight.
There's a plethora of history involving Gutenberg, his revolutionary press and the facsimile's ties to the local community. More information is available at the public library.
