For rare-book collectors, an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible—of which there are fewer than 50 in existence—represents the ultimate prize. Exploring books as objects of obsession, Margaret Leslie Davis recounts five centuries in the life of copy number 45, from its creation by Johannes Gutenberg, through the hands of monks, an earl, the Worcestershire sauce king, and a nuclear physicist to its ultimate resting place, in a steel vault in Tokyo. In this "lively tale of historical innovation, the thrill of the bibliophile's hunt, greed and betrayal" (NYTBR), Davis also introduces collector Estelle Doheny, who tipped this Bible onto a trajectory that forever changed our understanding of the first mechanically printed book.