This is such a huge area that you will need to figure out what types of Bibles you would like to collect and what your budget is. Many people start with 19th century Bibles, because they are very common and thus priced relatively affordably. The old family Bibles that salesmen used to sell from door to door in the US are quite common, having the KJV, the RSV and the Challoner Douay-Rheims versions. These Bibles often have elaborate, tooled and gilt decorative covers, and also feature extras such as commentaries, histories, illustrations and so on. It is rare for such family Bibles to have bindings in pristine condition and so those can cost a lot, because people used these Bibles very regularly. There was a lot of wear and tear. Often, such Bibles will have little mementos stuck in their pages such as holy pictures or certificates of baptism, or even pressed flowers. If you have a higher budget, printed Bibles from earlier centuries are highly prized by collectors. You may have to decide which language you want to collect in - English, Greek, German, Latin, French, Dutch, etc. The English ones can fetch higher prices in the market, especially if they are early Bibles such as the Great Bible or the Bishop's Bible (forget about getting a genuine Tyndale - these are rare to the point of disappearing and are found only in museums and academic libraries). The Geneva Bible is a wonderful book and not too rare, as it was popular among English protestants until the KJV. Most collectors would pay a lot for early folio editions of the KJV, or for special editions, such as the ones printed by James Baskerville. The early Catholic Bible is rare and can also fetch good prices, especially if you are able to get your hands on the Rheims NT of 1582. If your budget is really high, then I suggest you go for the real treasures - Robert Estienne's Greek NT "O Mirificam"; any English translation of Erasmus' Paraphrase (which was ordered to be put in English churches by Edward VI and then suppressed by Queen Mary); and any volume of any incunable Bible, especially by German printers such as Koberger. Hope this short note assists.
Always interesting to hear a booksellers perspective on books - I have about 15 old family bibles awaiting restoration and eventual sale. Some have nothing written in the family records, some bibles sadly have the family records torn out and some have family records. Over the years I have been able to locate 4 families and reunite them with their family bible, Ancestry has been the valuable tool to find them. I always like restoring these book as they always come up well despite the appalling condition some of them are in when they come to me. Interesting to know why these bibles have the clasps, they are decorative and always a pain to repair when they are bent or missing.
I have a Bible dated 1400 in beautiful shape.
Think Im ready to start collecting.
very nice
I really want to start collecting antique bibles, not really sure where to start.
Start with buying an antique Bible.
This is such a huge area that you will need to figure out what types of Bibles you would like to collect and what your budget is. Many people start with 19th century Bibles, because they are very common and thus priced relatively affordably. The old family Bibles that salesmen used to sell from door to door in the US are quite common, having the KJV, the RSV and the Challoner Douay-Rheims versions. These Bibles often have elaborate, tooled and gilt decorative covers, and also feature extras such as commentaries, histories, illustrations and so on. It is rare for such family Bibles to have bindings in pristine condition and so those can cost a lot, because people used these Bibles very regularly. There was a lot of wear and tear. Often, such Bibles will have little mementos stuck in their pages such as holy pictures or certificates of baptism, or even pressed flowers.
If you have a higher budget, printed Bibles from earlier centuries are highly prized by collectors. You may have to decide which language you want to collect in - English, Greek, German, Latin, French, Dutch, etc. The English ones can fetch higher prices in the market, especially if they are early Bibles such as the Great Bible or the Bishop's Bible (forget about getting a genuine Tyndale - these are rare to the point of disappearing and are found only in museums and academic libraries). The Geneva Bible is a wonderful book and not too rare, as it was popular among English protestants until the KJV. Most collectors would pay a lot for early folio editions of the KJV, or for special editions, such as the ones printed by James Baskerville. The early Catholic Bible is rare and can also fetch good prices, especially if you are able to get your hands on the Rheims NT of 1582.
If your budget is really high, then I suggest you go for the real treasures - Robert Estienne's Greek NT "O Mirificam"; any English translation of Erasmus' Paraphrase (which was ordered to be put in English churches by Edward VI and then suppressed by Queen Mary); and any volume of any incunable Bible, especially by German printers such as Koberger.
Hope this short note assists.
Always interesting to hear a booksellers perspective on books - I have about 15 old family bibles awaiting restoration and eventual sale. Some have nothing written in the family records, some bibles sadly have the family records torn out and some have family records. Over the years I have been able to locate 4 families and reunite them with their family bible, Ancestry has been the valuable tool to find them. I always like restoring these book as they always come up well despite the appalling condition some of them are in when they come to me. Interesting to know why these bibles have the clasps, they are decorative and always a pain to repair when they are bent or missing.
Bible word of god in your heart ♥️
Is there pocket sized Bibles?
Where do you buy your bibles from?
👍📖🇮🇳✝️
I have a bible I want to sell