In the Beginning There Were Missing Pages

Performance artist Berenice Rarig borrowed her husband's 1863 family Bible for a special project.

She opened the Bible to the beginning, where illuminated letters started the first book, Genesis, where God brings order out of chaos.

Her hands grasped the gilt-edged pages.

And pulled.

Rarig knew her fellow artists would appreciate the value of a family heirloom. And they would understand how much it would cost her to deconstruct it.

Rarig tore the book of Genesis into one-inch squares. She wove the squares into scarlet silk fibers, making a 20-foot cloth that floats with words and glows with light. [Link]

Deconstructing the Bible

I have mixed feelings about this story. Jack Bacon, the pastor of an Oregon church, got a rare 1599 Geneva Bible as a Father's Day gift from his son, who had picked it up at a yard sale for a buck. Now he's selling the Bible off, page by page, to raise money for repairs to his church.

"I opened the binding and found some hair. Wouldn't that be something if that was Pilgrim hair?" he asks.

There are also burn marks, souvenirs of fireside readers, and mistakes from early printing presses, Bacon says.

"Some of the lines slant down and then come back up," he says. Inside the distressed tome are messages in faded handwritten script that details births, deaths, marriages and other important milestones. He recently discovered a note from an early owner of the bible, Helen Crombie.

"My daughter Jean Stephen was born June 26th one thousand seventeen hundred and twenty eight. Likewise my son William Stephen was borne July the eighth one thousand seven hundred and thirty years."

If he can find Crombie's "great, great, great, great grandchildren," he'd like to send them a few pages of their ancestor's Bible, Bacon says. [Link]

The pastor's intentions are noble, but I can't help be reminded of the horrible practice of slicing up atlases and selling off the maps. Even a heavily damaged 1599 Geneva Bible is worth more than the sum of its parts. Though perhaps not enough cash to fix a church roof.

A Couple in Need of Guidance

From the Columbia, S.C., police blotter:

While on patrol at 5 p.m. Sunday, an officer found a package filled with a strange assortment of items lying in the road: a Bible, a sex manual, a marriage certificate and a packet of photos. Police tried to contact the people named on the marriage license but couldn’t reach them. [Link]

Into the Lion's Den

Seventy years after his death, the family of Harold Davidson, the Rector of Stiffkey, is still trying to clear his name. He was accused of misbehaving with the "fallen women" he tirelessly tried to rescue.

At the ensuing church trial, in 1932, only one of the 40 witnesses, Barbara Harris, a 17-year-old prostitute bribed with money and alcohol, testified against him. Nevertheless, the Rector was found guilty of "systematic misbehaviour" and "removed, deposed and degraded" by his nemesis, the Bishop of Norwich. [Link]

His trial was a cause célèbre and spawned a media circus, but it was the story of his bizarre death that interested me most. Having been defrocked, he took a job at Skegness playing the part of "A modern Daniel in the lion's den." Standing in a lion's cage, he preached from the Bible and spoke about the injustice he had suffered. On July 28, 1937, his co-star Freddie grew tired of his act and knocked him to the floor.

The lion then grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and stalked around the small cage shaking the poor Harold back and forth. The audience thinking it was part of the act roared with laughter and therefore it was some time before help was called. Unfortunately it was too late for Harold Davidson and he died from wounds sustained a few days later. [Link]

Errors of Biblical Proportions

Police in England are hoping to return a stolen Bible to its rightful owners. It contains a Pratt family tree tracing the family from 1797 to 1956, but auctioneer Chris Albury says even that would not make the book especially valuable to collectors.

"Most Bibles after 1750 tend to not be worth very much. There are certain editions that make an exception, and the binding can make it an exception if it is particularly attractive."

Some Bibles are valuable for other reasons, such as a famous 17th century edition which had a printing error so the Ten Commandments read 'Thou shalt kill' instead of 'Thou shalt not kill', and another where the word 'vinegar' is used instead of 'vineyard'. [Link]

Good Parents, But Poor Forgers

A biography of Rev. John Wesley Caughlan—a Provost Marshal in Missouri during the Civil War—includes this story, related by his son Fred.

He was sent to draft a young man. When they went in the parents said he was not old enough, so father demanded a family record and asked for the family Bible. After a lot of searching it was produced and showed signs of having been altered. A closer look showed that he and his younger brother were only two months apart in age. Father asked “how did this happen?” They said “they didn’t know, but it did.” They took the boy along. [Link]

A Genealogy of Biblical Proportions

From CBC Manitoba:

University's Bible discovered to be rare first edition

Last Updated Dec 21 2005
CBC News

Scholars have discovered an old Bible in the University of Manitoba's archives is a rare first edition, first printing of the King James Bible.

"We had hoped that it was going to be a first editing, first printing, but we couldn't confirm it until now," said Dr. Shelley Sweeney, head of archives at the University of Manitoba Libraries.

[snip]

Only about 50 first editions, first printings of the King James Bible exist in the world. Others have sold for more than $400,000 at recent auctions, Sweeney said.

This particular Bible could be worth even more; Sweeney says it includes a rare "genealogy" page, following family lineage from God to Jesus. . . .

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

As I recall, the "family lineage from God to Jesus" was rather direct on the paternal side. Much more interesting through his mother and step-father.

tags: genealogy, family history, family tree

The Bible Stripped of Begats

From Telegraph.co.uk:

The Bible for slow readers

By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
(Filed: 22/09/2005)

In the beginning was the Word. But the Word went on a bit, so a new version of the Bible has been produced for readers with short attention spans.

The 100-minute Bible, aimed at the "hurried and harried" generation, was launched at Canterbury Cathedral yesterday by its author, the Rev Michael Hinton.

While the original takes about a week of solid reading to finish, the abbreviated version can be read from cover to cover in under two hours, said Mr Hinton.

While all the familiar Old Testament stories are there, from Genesis to Exodus, out have gone the genealogy and the law books. Also missing is the Song of Songs, and only two psalms have survived.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]