1862 Confederate printed bible find!

[oddballaffliction]

Let me start by saying, I -like- finding and buying things for my collection, but I LOVE when I find things instead! I just bought an old house and found a few boxes of books in the basement that the previous owner had left. Mostly novels and religious texts. The one gem turned out to be a Bible printed by the Confederate states Bible society in 1862. Research shows this is one of probably only 12 known to still be in existence. It's in 'well used' shape, but free to me and quite rare! I wish I could tell what the faded writing inside the cover said!

 

[oddballaffliction]

Found this in my research.

 

[170infantry]

Nice find!

 

[Package4]

Let me start by saying, I -like- finding and buying things for my collection, but I LOVE when I find things instead! I just bought an old house and found a few boxes of books in the basement that the previous owner had left. Mostly novels and religious texts. The one gem turned out to be a Bible printed by the Confederate states Bible society in 1862. Research shows this is one of probably only 12 known to still be in existence. It's in 'well used' shape, but free to me and quite rare! I wish I could tell what the faded writing inside the cover said!

View attachment 459131

View attachment 459132

You might try hitting it with various types of light, black, fluorescent, etc to see if you can make out the writing......

 

[Sheltowee]

Great stuff- I'm flabbergasted.

Quick- check the barn. May be a '69 Charger Daytona out there!!!

 

[oddballaffliction]

Will definitely try some black light. Hopefully something comes out!

 

[captaindrew]

Awesome find!

 

[scooter748driver]

Wow!

 

[GwilymT]

What a find!

Be sure to check the laws in your state to be sure it's yours and not the previous owners'. I know it sounds like common sense but you'd be surprised.

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[oddballaffliction]

Hm. The previous owner is deceased, so no asking them! Siblings inherited it. I asked them multiple times to remove everything before closing. They tried to leave a junk car, which delayed closing. Had I known they were leaving anything good, I would have let them leave more!

 

[Story]

To quote Dr I. Jones, "it belongs in a museum!"

 

[Story]

Hm. The previous owner is deceased, so no asking them! Siblings inherited it. I asked them multiple times to remove everything before closing. They tried to leave a junk car, which delayed closing. Had I known they were leaving anything good, I would have let them leave more!

County property records on the previous owners?

 

[GwilymT]

Hm. The previous owner is deceased, so no asking them! Siblings inherited it. I asked them multiple times to remove everything before closing. They tried to leave a junk car, which delayed closing. Had I known they were leaving anything good, I would have let them leave more!

Then don't let them know they did, LOL.

Seriously, the law tends to be a little gray here with who may be the owner of something found. For instance, if they can produce something that says "this bible is to be passed down through the family" then they may have a very real claim on the book regardless if it was left behind or "lost" so to speak.

 

[Library Lady]

How does this Bible compare to Bibles printed in the North? I've read that Southern Bibles sometimes omitted verses that were less positive about slavery and that the amount of excised material grew as ink and paper supplies dwindled. Have you noted any appreciable difference or was your Bible printed early enough in the war that the supply chain wasn't an issue?

 

[GwilymT]

How does this Bible compare to Bibles printed in the North? I've read that Southern Bibles sometimes omitted verses that were less positive about slavery and that the amount of excised material grew as ink and paper supplies dwindled. Have you noted any appreciable difference or was your Bible printed early enough in the war that the supply chain wasn't an issue?

I don't know if that is the case. I think the preacher had a lot do do with what was emphasized vs what was not, but the scripture itself wasn't changed. There is a reason why there were a whole host of schisms in American Protestant Churches in the years leading up to the war but it wasn't because folks were rewriting scripture- they were interpreting and emphasizing different elements. The Baptist Church schism, the Presbyterian Church schism, and the Methodist Schism in America all happened in the years leading up to the war and the issue in those schisms was slavery.

As to this particular book, it's special because if authentic it is one of twelve (now thirteen?) known to exist.

 

[Lubliner]

How does this Bible compare to Bibles printed in the North? I've read that Southern Bibles sometimes omitted verses that were less positive about slavery and that the amount of excised material grew as ink and paper supplies dwindled. Have you noted any appreciable difference or was your Bible printed early enough in the war that the supply chain wasn't an issue?

I would tend to think just the opposite, being the master and servant theme is a primary principle to the gospel teachings. You have laborers in the field, paid by the whim of the owner and not by the hours worked. IDK, but I can't think of any verse that disregards a humble approach to humility.
Lubliner.

 

[CWdiaryPA]

Can't get over what a lucky & awesome find this is. Please keep us posted!

Once found an 1886 penny in backyard sand at a house I rented in CA. Immediately contacted the owner, who didn't want it. But this, sounds like they were aware of these boxes, saw they were old books, & said eww. Didn't have the courtesy to haul them away. This could go for a lot at auction if that's the route you wanted to take. Good luck with it.

 

[R. Porter]

I think in some places when you sell property the buyer becomes the owner of everything on that property at the time of transfer. I'm not a lawyer or realtor but it seems to me that I was told something like that by someone who flipped houses. Now it will be interesting to see how many copies there really are of that version of the bible. I remember reading not so long ago that there could be fewer than a dozen swords with the J.B.A. mark on the ricasso (we're talking Model 1840 and Model 1860 cavalry swords here), but the study collection that I am working with had sixteen. So, things may not be quite what they seem. And finally, I have this sudden overpowering urge for cookies, so I'm going to go hunt for some right now.

 

[Mike Serpa]

For $500 (cash only) I will forge Robert E. Lee's signature for you.

 

[oddballaffliction]

Im no expert by any means, but I have had a few dealings with real estate in VA now. I bought some land a while back and the owner said they wanted to take things off of the property before closing and didn't take any of it. The realtor advised me that as of closing, ALL of it was my problem now. That is why I tried to get these people to clean everything out. I think that they saw heavy boxes of books, and decided to leave them, making them my problem now, good or bad. They had plenty of chances to clean it all out! If they want it, they can contact me and remove the rest of the junk too!