I Discover A Beautiful 1870's Family Bible.
I love rummaging around brick-a-back shops and finding old things of beauty. There is just such a shop in a small town near us that always seems to have a large and eclectic mix of stock.
While browsing the shelves a few weeks ago I came across an old Family Bible.
It immediately caught my attention and when I opened it I was struck by the colourful illustrations and quality of printing. It was something I just had to have. I managed to secure it for a very reasonable sum and it wasn't long before the Bible was sat on the rear seat of the car on the way back to my home.
There were also illustrations of 'Animals of the Bible' and locations that are mentioned in the bible as well as maps of the biblical lands.
I am always in awe of the amount of effort and time that must have gone into the creation of these family bibles. The picture below shows the first page of Exodus. As you can see, apart from the biblical text, there are also marginal comments explaining more about certain words or passages and a running commentary giving more background and theological discussions.
I was a little disappointed that the Family Register (which is between the Old and New Testaments of most Bibles of this type) had not been filled in. It adds more poignancy when you can see the names of the people who have handed the Bible in the past.
I always like it when I find things that have been placed into old books. This is an illustration entitled 'Saving The Old Home' from a publication called 'The Sunday' dated 1915. I haven't been able to find anything on the Internet about this newspaper.
The Bible was in a reasonable state but did require some work from a friendly local book-binder to 'future proof' it for many more years to come.
I have collated a series of posts I did on Mindfulness into an ebook which can be downloaded here for the low, low price of 0.100 SBD
AW, my... it really looks fabulous, million times better than the modern editions. It is good that you renovate it with the new binding, now it is safe.
Thanks. I really love old books and have a few more that I may have renovated as well.
This was a great find @maninayton. I had a Bible from the 1950s but this book is a "real Bible." The church in the late 1800s was totally in a period of revival and missionaries were sent all over the world from the UK. This book is a testimony to those days by art and careful attention to detail. Keep it as long as you can and maintain the books proper condition. The value is in the heritage of the book itself not in any money you can sell it for.
You're right about the value being in the heritage. I have no intention of selling the book and I'm currently looking for a good place to display it. Thanks for your comment