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June, 2019 The Antique Shoppe Page 29
Collecting Bibles —SIDE BAR—

By Jeff Figler A 1615 Breeches Edition
Bible, stolen from the Carnegie
I’ve had people ask about collecting books, and often • If a Bible is rare because of printing errors, it is Library in Pittsburgh in the 1990s
the topic of their interest is Bibles. Book collecting is considered valuable. was recently recovered. The
extremely popular, and Bible was part of an extensive
will be discussed in detail. ← The Holy Bible, containing years-long heist estimated to total
However, for now, let’s focus the Old and New Testaments: $8 million.
Translated out the Original
on Bibles. Tongues; and with the The 400 year old Pilgrims
In short, while Bibles have former translations diligently Bible was traced to the American
been on most best sellers’ compared and revised. 1790 Pilgrim Museum in Leiden,
lists for centuries, Bibles Netherlands, who had purchased
are generally not valuable it for $1,200.
collectibles. That is, of Certainly, family heirlooms A rare book dealer and a
course, not to say that they such as Bibles, are precious, former archivist at the Pittsburgh
should not be collected and and priceless treasures to library have been accused of
read, but rather they should you and family members. stealing the Bible, along with
not be thought of as a hot Unless they fall into one of over 300 additional rare books,
collectible. Why not? the “exception” categories atlases, maps, plate books,
There are two main above, they will not be and more. The collection was
reasons why Bibles should valuable to other people. discovered missing last year.
not be thought of as However, just in case you The 17th century Bible is
a hot item. First, since are curious as to how much money some of the more “more than a piece of evidence,”
the Bible is the most notable-type Bibles are worth, here is a partial list: FBI Special Agent Robert Jones,
frequently printed book The American Bible. This “Natick Bible” or “Eliot in charge of the Pittsburgh FBI
in the world, its price is Bible”, published in Cambridge, Massachusetts in said, “From a dollar-figure sense,
therefore low. Sure, the 1663, is extremely scarce if it is the Indian language it is not priceless. From a history
Bible has been published perspective, it is priceless.”
more times and in more translation. If you have one of these you could be a
countries than any other quarter of a million dollars richer if you sold it. Jones explained the first
book, and in countless Another valuable Bible, is the American Bible, edition of the Geneva Bible was
typesets, but that does published in Philadelphia published in 1560. This particular
not matter. Despite any Holy Bible, Old & New in 1790, in two volumes. edition, published in London four
artistic beauty of any of Testaments translated It is the first American years after the first King James
the published versions, into the Indian edition of the Douai or version, is similar to a Bible
it is not a rare book. Plain Language and ordered Roman Catholic Bible. This known to have been brought over
and simple. Second, to be printed by the edition sells for more than by the Pilgrims in 1620.
Commissioners of the
because comparatively United Colonies in $10,000. The word “breeches” is
few Bibles have ever New England 1663 visible as the last word in verse
been destroyed, they The American Bible 7 of chapter 3 in Genesis in the
are plentiful. A general published in Trenton, New
fact of collecting is that a Jersey in 1791 has sold for theft recovered Bible. The word
large supply equals a low more than $3,000. gives the 1615 Breeches Edition
collector value. Of course, a Bible, as Bible its name.
As with most general any other collectible, is Eighteen of the stolen
statements, there are only worth what someone books were been recovered,
some notable exceptions will pay for it. But there are including one copy of Isaac
to the above statement some avid Bible collectors Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis
that a Bible is not valuable: who will pay even into the Principia Mathematica, valued
• If the Bible was owned hundreds of dollars for an at $900,000, and John Adams’ A
by a high-profile person. ornate Bible, or one that Defense of the Constitutions of
Government of the United States
An old Bible that included is unbelievably tiny, or one of America, valued at $20,000.
hand-written notations that is of another language
of births, marriages, and than most, or one that The FBI believes some of the
deaths written by a notable New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus is for whatever reason stolen merchandise is probably
person would be valuable. Christ, translated of The Original Greek; and with unique to them. in among private collections
• A Bible published prior to the former translations diligently compared and Bibles are excellent items to and hopes news of the Bible
1700 is valuable. revised. First Brookfield Edition, 1815 collect if it does not matter to discovery will prompt others to
look at their collections for any
• A “first” Bible is valuable, you if they are valuable. Most possible items stolen in the heist
such as the first Bible printed in a certain place or country. Bibles can be bought for under $10, which makes them including “An Inquiry into the
Or, the first Bible printed in a particular language. very affordable. It just might be very interesting to see in Nature and Causes of the Wealth
• A Bible that is both handwritten and hand-painted is how many different language you can see the Twenty-third of Nations” by philosopher Adam
quite valuable. Single pages from such Bibles are valuable Psalm printed. That is, if you can read various languages. Smith, valued at $180,000.
as well.