Canstein

Baron von Canstein and August Hermann Francke (1663–1727) founded the Bible institute in 1710; the first Canstein Bible came off the press that year, on 21 October. Ordinary book printing broke down the set type after each run and reused it for the next job; the Canstein Bible Institute's type was never broken down — about five million pieces of lead type stood permanently set, ready to print whenever needed. This standing type cut costs dramatically, bringing the Bible down to a price the poor could afford.

In Canstein's lifetime, the institute printed about 100,000 New Testaments and 40,000 complete Bibles; by 1800, the cumulative total had passed 2.7 million copies. This was the world's earliest Bible society — the British and Foreign Bible Society would not be founded for another ninety-four years.

The Chinese Bible we read today has no direct link to the Canstein Bible Institute: the earliest Chinese Bibles were not printed until 1822 (Marshman) and 1823 (Morrison). There is no such line of descent. But the idea that everyone should be able to afford a Bible has a starting point in church history, and that starting point is Halle; the Francke Foundations still house the Canstein Bible Center today. A fellowship's most essential possession is nothing more than the worn Bible each person carries in hand — and precisely because it is so ordinary, it is worth remembering that unbroken bed of lead type from three hundred years ago.