MP of the "Opposition Platform For Life" Viktor Medvedchuk has refused to tell about the details of the purchase, a fragment of a rare Gutenberg Bible of 1455 declared by him, namely, to name the specific date of purchase, the price and the name of the person who sold him this relic.
Source: Радіо Свобода
“Such things are not to be divulged at all, and no law can oblige me to speak about it,” he said in a comment to Radio Liberty journalist Sofia Sereda. At the same time, the politician still told where exactly he purchased a fragment of this rare Bible and explained that he was ready to provide it for study by German scientists who had previously expressed the desire to get acquainted with the historical document.
“I bought it about 8-10 years ago. This is a rare and unique sample in Ukraine. It was bought from a famous collector in Ukraine," Medvedchuk said and expressed his readiness to cooperate with German scientists and show them the rarity on request.
As it was previously reported, the property declaration of MP Viktor Medvedchuk became an international sensation in international scientific circles.
“A fragment of the Gutenberg Bible, 1455” is just one line in the recently published declaration on the property status of the Ukrainian Parliament Member Viktor Medvedchuk. Any other old printed work, of which Medvedchuk has a whole collection, might have been lost in a long list of luxury clothing and watches, designer jewelry and accessories, paintings and antiques. But not a fragment of the first printed book in the history of humankind. The issue is not even that one page of the Gutenberg Bible today costs more than any of the 18 cars of the Ukrainian MP. The issue is that for many decades the study of Gutenberg's books has been a separate area of research into the history of world culture. The Gutenberg Bible is called nothing less than “the icon of book printing”. “As the first printed book ever, this is a milestone in the history of communications. This book has become extremely important for all the peoples of the world, said Professor Stefan Füssel, Head of the Institute of World Literature and Print Media at the Gutenberg University in Mainz.