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As the most widely read book in Western civilization, the Bible offers a variety of collecting possibilities. Many collectors pursue specific themes, including very old Bibles, family Bibles containing family trees, maps, or notes, and interesting translations.
The first complete English translation of the New Testament was published in 1526 by William Tyndale. In England, it was considered heresy and copies were destroyed. It wasn't until 1535 that the entire Bible - both Old and New Testaments - was published in English...
There are many different versions of the bible, depending on both the translator and the religious beliefs of the monarchy at the time it was published. The most collectible Bibles are those printed in Europe before 1700.
The first Bible to be published in America was the Eliot Bible, printed for the Natick Native American tribe in their own language in 1663. The first English-language Bible printed in America (a King James version) was published in 1782.
The King James Bible was first published in 1611, and in the late 1800s, the English Revised Version became the first Bible to gain popularity since the King James version. Also in the late 1800s, Bibles began to omit the 14 Apocryphal books (whereas previously all Bibles had 80 books, now they only contained 66).
Various factors influence the collectibility of Bibles; for example, first editions (first to be published in a specific language, first to be printed in a specific location, etc.), or copies signed by an important person.
"I must write rudely," stated Thomas Dudley of Massachusetts Bay colony in a letter to the Countess of Lincol… [more]
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t read books. In grade school, I devoured library books. I also loved… [more]
Special collections is where we keep non-circulating rare materials which have to be used in the reading room… [more]
I started working as the curator of the Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature in 1994, but I’… [more]
Bookplate mania in America and England peaked from 1890 to about 1920. That's when the really great collectio… [more]
I’m a packrat, so in 1995, I was itching to collect something. I went around to local flea markets here bec… [more]
Want to do one quick search and pull up the mother lode of vintage books? Try Google Book Search, a database filled… [read review or visit site]
If you’re interested in collectible childrens books, check out this special digital collection from the Universit… [read review or visit site]
This archive of 76 influential American cookbooks from the late 1700s to early 1900s, assembled by the Michigan St… [read review or visit site]
Greg Kindall's collection of over 2100 colorful and historic book labels, pasted into books by publishers, printers… [read review or visit site]
This great blog, by an anonymous mom in Texas, is an ongoing bibliography of hundreds of vintage childrens books, c… [read review or visit site]
This Flickr photo pool features over 2,000 photos and scans of vintage cookbooks and old recipes from the 1940s to … [read review or visit site]
This visually interesting and highly specialized collection from the Hawaii Karate Museum focuses on rare and histo… [read review or visit site]
This Smithsonian microsite showcases Czech avant-garde book cover designs from the 1920s and 30s, complete with hig… [read review or visit site]
Bruce Black's gallery of paperback book covers from the 1940s and 50s. With help from numerous contributors, he's a… [read review or visit site]
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