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Saturday, January 15, 2011

Bible from 1670 Found in Old School in Wisconsin

This is an exciting discovery - the religious stuff I don't give a hoot about, but the fact that this old book in wonderful condition was found and its importance within the context of the times in which it was printed - outstanding! And in its own right, it is a work of art.

Fri Jan 14, 10:01 am ET
Teacher stumbles upon 340-year-old Bible
By Liz Goodwin

Photo from the article.
A sixth-grade teacher in Bonduel, Wis., discovered a 340-year-old German Bible in an old safe in a small Lutheran church school where she works.

The 1,500-page Bible, a copy of Martin Luther's translation, was printed in Germany in 1670, researchers told WLUK-TV, the local Fox affiliate.

Debra Court found it while searching for old baptism records to show her students, but she thought it was just an old book. That was two years ago.

Eventually the church's pastor, Timothy Shoup, sent images of it to researchers at Concordia Seminary Library in St. Louis, who have now identified it. The library's Lyle Buettner said only about 40 copies are known, though it's likely many more are undocumented.


Describing the hand-illustrated text, Buettner told WLUK-TV: "Each time I see an illustration like this, I just think of how beautiful it looks and how much of a labor of love it must have been for the person who actually drew it."

Shoup told the Associated Press that the church has no idea how it came to possess the Bible. "We don't know how it got into the safe. We've been asking some of our elderly folks and people in the nursing home and nobody seems to remember." The church will be 150 years old in 2013.

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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2011 at 2:05 PM

    For the author to say they don't give a hoot about the religious aspect of this book is a disgrace, an insult and was such a distasteful comment. It's clear the author has no insight into the actual meaning of this magnificent treasure, but rather enjoys the pretty pictures and handwriting. What a shame this author even made effort to expose her ignorance on a treasure for which she has no understanding.
    Please don't waste your time writing about anything that has any relation to religion anymore. You're not admired for your foolish opinions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2011 at 2:06 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JanJanuary 16, 2011 at 2:12 PM

    You posted your comment twice, so I deleted the second.

    Call a spade a spade, darling. It's me - Jan Newton - who wrote the comments you found so offensive - not an "anonymous." If you wrote it, at least have the guts to put your real name to it. Otherwise, you're just another internet schmuck.

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  4. JanJanuary 16, 2011 at 2:17 PM

    P.S. I don't give a hoot about the religious aspects of the Book of Mormon, the Koran, the Apocrpyha, etc. etc. either. A work of art is something that can be appreciated in its own right outside of religious gloss which, as we know, comes and goes out of fashion as the eons pass.

    ReplyDelete