The Gutenberg Bible

The Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed from movable type (circa 1454 or 1455), is on permanent display on the mezzanine. From Sept. 2, 2025 through May 3, 2026, it will be presented alongside the Hyakumantō darani, a Buddhist sutra that Empress Regnant Shōtoku mass-produced in Japan about 770 CE using woodblocks (or possibly metal plates, as many scholars have suggested)—hundreds of years before Johannes Gutenberg began producing copies of the Latin Vulgate Bible on his printing press in Mainz, a town in present-day Germany. 

The Birds of America

Visitors can also see two volumes of John James Audubon’s The Birds of America on the mezzanine. Audubon’s The Birds of America is one of the most significant works of natural history of the 19th century. The enormous, four-volume “double elephant folios” carefully document more than 430 bird species in life-size prints, making it an important work of scientific observation. Each of the images, based on Audubon’s dynamic original paintings, was printed from an engraved (and sometimes also aquatinted) copper plate, with watercolors later added by hand.

Plate 21, Mocking Bird

1742 Library of Yale College

On the ground floor, visitors can see the 1742 Library of Yale College, a collection of the first books in the original Yale library, and a collection of incunabula, the earliest printed books in the West, dating from 1455 to circa 1500.

An information sheet about the library’s history, mission, architecture, collection, and services is available at the security desk at the entrance. The building and exhibitions can be enjoyed on a self-guided basis.

Public Gallery Hours

Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, 9am – 7pm
Wednesday, 10am – 7pm
Friday, 9am – 5pm
Saturday and Sunday, noon – 5pm

Please check the Hours and Accessibility page on this website for detailed information.