Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-11-17
TINE FAMILY HiBLE.
Il lie Out OF Date, aud There Are Not Many
of Them Sold Row. t, ~ I

Il 10 Out OF Date, aud Ihere are MOI muny
[ of Them Sold Row. ~ h
New York Times. &
The family Bible, which at one time.
played such an important part in most
families, and was almost as important
part of the wedding as the ceremony,
is now very much out of date. 1t is
ld-fashioned, and wherever it is seen
as n window ornament standing on
table where it is in plain sight of all
passersby, it may be taken for granted
that the family which belongs to that
house and Bible hasn't the least bit of
style. ~
1t is good many years now since
the family Bible figured SO prominently
at weddings. and it is rather surpris-
ing to find that there are still SO many
of them to be seen by the obseryant
traveller along the city streets. But
going through the more quite resident
streets of Brooklyn counting Bibles
the statistician would be surprised at
the figures he would reach. YtS1g
| The exodus of the Bible does not re-
fleet, as some people might think, upon
| the morals and manners of the citysor
| the religious tendencies of the individ-
/ uals. II denotes rather an era OF com
mon sense for which this generation is
noted in many ways. Ii there is any
i thing more useless than the big parlor
table Bible it would be hard to find.
II is large, unwieldy, and difficult to
use. 1t is too large and heavy to hold
in the lap, and reading from q big book
on table is neither comfortable nor
convenient. A large, handsomely
bound leather Bible, illustrated, is ex-
pensive, and 1t ruins it to throw open
the big covers and let them fall back
upon the table. A big Bible bound in
crimson Turkey morocco, and without
illustrations, costs $50, 1t is possible
that in some houses these ornaments
have been used, but it is doubtful il
in many families possessing them they
are ever opened. ~
| A generation or two age the family
Bible was valuable because OF its
records, but the records are seldom kept
now. People are living too fast to stor
and write down the name when there
is a birth or death in the family, and
such records are not always agreeable
to the younger members of the family
as they grow to be the older members,
and in one way and another the prac
tice has been given up.
In the American Bible Society
rooms, where an enormous number O.
Bibles are disposed of in the course O
, year, the fact is borne out that large
, family Bibles are not in demand a
, they have been. There have been q
, per cent less sold on the average dur
, ing the last 10 years, they say, than be
] fore, and those that have been bought
have been taken by the grandmothers
old aunties and occasionally tn
! mothers, who feel that they cannot lie
! the young people begin life withou
| the big Bible. Occasionally younl
} people buy a'big Bible for the mothe
and father, but not often.
But instead of the big family Bibl
there is smaller size which has takel
its place, and which is really useful
This is good-sized book, bound il
dark Turkey morocco, and with refer
a ences and maps. 1t has large, .plai
! type (small pica), is not too large Z
e hold, and is serviceable book.
costs So. %, and really merits the az
: pellation of family Bible rather tina
, the other which has its place In tn
: company room.
0 Women are the chief purchasers G
j all Bibles sold, and at the Bible Societ
. rooms they form, perhaps, two-third
K Of the purchasers. AS ID &