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Noble Fragments: The Gripping Story of the Antiquarian Bookseller Who Broke Up a Gutenberg Bible
One hundred years ago, Gabriel Wells, a New York bookseller, committed a crime against history. He broke up the world’s greatest book, the Gutenberg Bible, and sold it off in individual pages. This is the story of an Australian man’s hunt for those fragments and his family’s debt to an act of literary vandalism.
In 1921, Wells’ audacity scandalised the rare-book world. The Gutenberg was the first substantial book in Europe to have been printed on a printing press. It represented the democratisation of knowledge and was the Holy Grail of rare books.
Was the break-up a sacrilege or a canny deal? New Yorkers were divided. For every frown of disapproval, there was a lick of the lips. It was the Roaring Twenties, the Gatsby era of fabulous wealth. Tycoons were in a feeding frenzy to acquire items that would demonstrate their refinement. Wells marketed the pages as ‘Noble Fragments’, they sold like hot cakes, and he died a rich man.
Half a century later, Sydney journalist Michael Visontay stumbled upon a mysterious legal document that linked Wells to his own family. He became obsessed by the Gutenberg’s invisible imprint on his life, and set out to track down the pages of the broken bible.
Part detective story and part memoir, Noble Fragments is an expedition into the arcane world of book collectors and their eccentric passions, and a journey of discovery about how Wells’s gamble set off a chain of events that changed a family’s destiny.
In 1921, Wells’ audacity scandalised the rare-book world. The Gutenberg was the first substantial book in Europe to have been printed on a printing press. It represented the democratisation of knowledge and was the Holy Grail of rare books.
Was the break-up a sacrilege or a canny deal? New Yorkers were divided. For every frown of disapproval, there was a lick of the lips. It was the Roaring Twenties, the Gatsby era of fabulous wealth. Tycoons were in a feeding frenzy to acquire items that would demonstrate their refinement. Wells marketed the pages as ‘Noble Fragments’, they sold like hot cakes, and he died a rich man.
Half a century later, Sydney journalist Michael Visontay stumbled upon a mysterious legal document that linked Wells to his own family. He became obsessed by the Gutenberg’s invisible imprint on his life, and set out to track down the pages of the broken bible.
Part detective story and part memoir, Noble Fragments is an expedition into the arcane world of book collectors and their eccentric passions, and a journey of discovery about how Wells’s gamble set off a chain of events that changed a family’s destiny.
262 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 4, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 18, 2025
This is a book that is more than just a tale of Gabriel Wells, the bookseller who broke up a Gutenberg bible and sold the pages separately, it is also a tale of the holocaust, particularly as it applied to Hungarian Jews. The writing is fluid and easy to read and the subject matter is fascinating. The author’s family and the Wells family are intertwined through marriage and through the holocaust. If the subject matter is of interest, buy this book; I found it gripping.
November 18, 2025
True story of a gutsy and opportunist book dealer who did the unthinkable to a great and rare treasure; the amazing thing to me is that the author (and history) was able to identify where these fragments went and their related stories. True stories are better than fiction!
April 19, 2025
Very interesting book!
April 24, 2025
3-1/2 Stars. A solid 'B' grading.
August 3, 2025
Fascinating
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews