Just discovered an old bible (1852) in loft

[Manchester-man]

Hi,

I hope im in the right place, have been looking through some of the older threads and most of the topics are furniture, coin related by the looks of it, just looking for a little advice or maybe someone else will find it interesting too? Its probably not classed as an antique, but with it being fairly old im in hope somebody on here might take an interest.

Ok well i went up in our loft for the xmas decorations, the hatch to the loft is tiny so for years ive just put stuff around the edges with it being a tight squeeze to get my actual body inside. Anyway the decorations had fallen so i had to for the first time get in (when i say get in stuck my upper torso in) so as you can imagine its VERY dirty nobodys been up there for years and years. Anyway i looked inside the first bag and saw this book, quite possibly the biggest book ive ever seen. I got it down and saw that it was a Holy Bible. I was amazed straight away and couldn't put it down, there are what appear to be newspaper cuttings stuck inside on random pages, every time i look through it i find new peices of paper, or old leaves that have been put inside. Some were old recipes, theres also some 'Tickler's jam' labels inside, which after looking on the internet it seems that this was part of a ration in the days of the war. I've found out the year of the bible after scratching my head for 2 days, it from 1852. It says at the bottom MDCCCLII which i found out is roman numerals. I haven't had the time to go through it all yet and im sure there will be bits of clippings or other interesting peices inside (it really is big) so im going to do that as soon as i get time.

It was printed by William Tyler, bolt court, fleet street, london.

Ive had a look online myself and i think the chances are, its not worth much money? Im sure someone on here would be able to tell me for sure. If thats the case, ill still have a good look through and find it very interesting all the same. To see a label off a pot of jam from the world war amazes me and ive never been interested in things like that before. Oh one other thing ive found in there upto now is a 'Mothers union member ship card'. You'll see it on one of the pictures, its a big A4 type sized card with prayers printed on it and its dated 54. So whether thats 1954 or 1854 i couldn't be sure.

Anyway my girlfriend isn't really that interested and neither are any of my friends so i was hoping i might be talking in the right place to find someone who is even slightly interested 



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Thanks for reading!

[mart]

Pics are so big I haven`t seen them all yet !! I think that it is an amazing find !!  In days past everything of value was kept in the family bible !! I am not talking monetary value but rather family history as well as what is going on in the world at that time !!  It appears in good shape for having been hidden away all these years !! I am wondering what other treasures may be in your attic !!

[Oceans64]

You are right that Bibles do not have a lot of monetary value. As someone else on this site once pointed out so many have been printed over the years even the old ones are not particularly "rare".  Some of the clippings and stuff that you find in the pages may be rare and have more $$ value than the actual Bible....

That said, it may be a nice gesture to look for a family name in the Bible and return it to a descendant or offer to sell. If you find a name, there are several on this site that may be able to help you with that (locating through genealogy). Are you in the UK?

Looking forward to hearing more about this!

[talesofthesevenseas]

Not a lot of monetary value, but what a treasure nonetheless! How cool to find something up in the attic and I wonder what other treasures are there waiting to be rediscovered? Look to see if there is any genealogical info written in the bible. Often births, deaths and marriages were recorded. It looks like it is still in quite good condition for it's age. Great find!

[Manchester-man]

Theres 3 different names in it that ive seen upto now. To be brutally honest id love to keep hold of it and give it one of the kids when  there older but its not the right thing to do is it? If i found a relative which name would you use out of the 3. Theres one in the front of the bible 1854 the oldest, then there is another name on some peices of loose paper inside, then another name on a prayers card. Would you say it should go to the family of the first owner of it or the most recent?

My other half is under the impression its been left in the loft and found by the next owner, and so on and so on but i think shes just being superstitious (she wants me to put it back in loft and leave it where it was, so she doesn't "come down stairs to cups flying about the room" to use her words :-)

[mart]

I think that since it is a Holy Bible you need not worry about cups and dishes flying about !!  Now if it were on the occult or something similar,,,leaving it might be a good idea !! LOL  Kidding !!
Tales might be able to help on the geneology question !! I personally would go through it and make a list of all names found then try to connect them by family history !! Remember names can change with a marriage !!

[frogpatch]

These are fascinating as you never know what may be stuck deep between the pages. People used all kinds of things as book marks.

[hunterfan]

Monetarily-wise, you're talking about $10-$20 and it's likely that it wouldn't sell for years. OTOH, it's value in terms of family history or just history itself is significantly more.

When you find a Gutenberg Bible (or just a single page of one!) give me a call!

[talesofthesevenseas]

I have a subscription to Ancestry.com, so I can try to help you find descendants. If you don't want to part with the bible you can always share the genealogical info by scanning the records and posting the scans online. You might be able to help solve a genealogical puzzle for someone! However, if you do find a person who would love and cherish the bible, I do believe there are times when we should part with our treasures so that they can be returned to families, or kept safe by museums etc. I've done both. Certainly if your other half isn't comfortable with it, it probably would be an ideal situation if you could return it to a grateful family. The names in the bible are VERY likely to be related to each other, just descending through daughters so the surnames change. People generally have a family bible and these aren't something that different homeowners would have scribbled their kids names in.

A little something for your other half:

[snowflake]

What a treasure you have found. I have to admit that it would be hard to part with had I found it.

[snowflake]

Look on page 13 of this pdf file for the Bible being sold by a rare book seller. 600 pounds!
http://www.peterharrington.co.uk/content/catalogues/68.pdf
 Woodcuts could bring a good price!