Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1898-03-03
SOME CURIOUS BOOKS.
OLDEST BIBLE IN THE WORLD IS
VALUED AT 100000.

Years Old Smallest Book Ever Printed.
One Of the greatest historical book
relics in existence is preserved in
private library in England, in the
shape of the original book upon
which all the kings of England from
Henry 1 to Edward vi took the cor
onation oath. It is manuscript OF
the four evangelists written on vellum.
The binding, which is still in a state
of perfect preservation, consists OF
two oaken boards, an inch thick,
fastened together with stout thongs
of leather, with the corners defended
by large brass bosses. On the right
hand side, as the book is opened, is
crucitix of brass, which was kissed by
the king.
A Hebrew Bible in the vatican
library is claimed to be the oldest in
the world, and is valued at 500, 600.
If not the oldest, it is doubtless the
heaviest, since it is so weighty that it
takes two men to lift it, the binding
being in heavy metal. 1t is stated
that in the year 1912 Pope Jules II.
refused to sell this Bible for its weight
in gold, the greatest price offered for
q book.
The British museum has lately Sc
cured from Thibet copy of the
"Jangym, the monster encyclopedia
of Thibetum Buddhism, and the larg-
est set of volumes in existence. The
series is composed of 225 volumes
each of which is two feet long and six
inches thick. The price paid was 5000
rupees.
Among large Bibles German edi-
tion owned in Minneapolis, Mimi, de-
serves prominent place. This vol
ume is over 200 years old, and is
printed in type of large size. The
pages are nearly two feet in length
and of corresponding width. At the
top of each page is line in red ink
which reads. ''This is history"
and the work is ornamented with
many illustrations of decidedly
primitive character.
One of the most peculiar works In
existence is a book entirely without
printed matter, which is known as
the "Wordless Book" 1t has but
ten leaves, twenty pages, each of diff
ferent color. For over 800 years it
has been treasured in the monastery
of st. Rupert, where its wordless
pages. are reverently consulted on
Easter, st. Johns eve and Christmas.
On these days, the monks claim, the
leaves of the sacred volr' Ie become
miraculously covered wi appropriate
texts in characters of p re gold.
Another strange imprinted book Is
in the possession of the family of the
Prince de Ligre, in France. In this
volume the letters are neither written
nor printed, but are all cut out OF the
finest vellum and pasted with infinite
patience on blue paper. The book is
said to be as easy to read as if printed
from the clearest type. The German
Emperor Rudolph H., is reported to
have offered in 1910 the enormous
sum of IL 900 ducats for this remark
able and unique work of art.
An almanac 5000 years old, found in
Egypt, is preserved in the British
Museum. 1t was found on the body
of an Egyptian, and is supposed to be
the Oldest in the world. The days are
written in red ink, and under each
is figure followed by three charac-
ters, signifying the probable state of
the weather for thai day 1t is, of
course, written on papyrus.
An interesting Norwegian mediaeval
relic is on exhibition at the Museum
of Antiquities in the University OF
Christiana, consisting of a wooden
book. The pages, or tablets, of which
there are six, are of lockwood covered
with wax, each one having thin
border, so as to prevent them from
sticking together on closing the book.
The contents are chiefly drawings
representing scenes from village and
rural life. At the end is a large cata-
logue in Latin of various kinds Of
animals, with a translation into old
Norwegian. The tablets are fastened
together at the back, and the cover
is carved and inlaid with various small
pieces of differently coiored woods. 1t
dates from the 10Th century, and was
found in an ancient church.
The smallest book ever printed is
owned by the Boston public library.
It being copy of Dante's "Divine
Commedia." This volume, though
containing 500 pages, is less than two
inches square, and two sheets OF
paper were sufficient to contain the
whole II, 223 verses. The type was
cast in 1850, and several Intellectual
attempts were made to finish the
book, but the compositors and proof
readers abandoned the task because
of the strain upon their eyes, and
work was not resumed upon the book
until 1872. The type was so small
that the printers did not attempt to
distribute" it; so, after using, it
was melted. The type setting alone
required five years, and the proof
reading was so difficult that not more
than 25 or so pages were printed per
month.
A biography of Corder, notorious
murderer, is preserved in the Athen-
cum library at Bury st. Edmunds,
England, which is actually bound in a
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