The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-01-05
/: SOME PONDEROUS TONES.
Queen Victoria Has One That Weighs
G3 Pounds.

xpdt queen vIctofio PosseSSoo sSe
largest hound took ever made IL perhaps
an Item Of interest 1t wes his 63 pounds
and 10 IS inches thick.
The n o,t valuable book In the world Ia
the HebrAio Bible at the Vatican. In 1ol2
the Jews tried to buy 1t Of Pope Julius II
for its weight In gold. II is 30 large and
heavy that two men can hardly lit IL
and 1t would have brought 100000 II
the pope had oonsent sd TO part with II.
The smallest book In the world 10 not
much larger than mnn's thumb nail.
1t was made In Italy. 1t 10 four -tenths
of an inch long and about quarter Of
an inon wide. 1t contains 2)S pages. each
having nine lines and from % to 100 let
tiers. The text is q letter-before unpub-
lished--written by the inventor OF the
pendulum clock to Mime. Cristine OF
Lorraine in 1915
The next smallest hook 10 an edition OF
Daute's Divine Comedy" and It's a
little less than an inch wide, with type
SO small that 1t takes . microscope to
read the letters.
When 1t 10 tnishsd the official history
of our war Of the rebellion will be the
costiisst book in the world. Il Ii being
Issued by the government Of the United
States, and at q cost up to date Of about
1000, 900. II will oonsist Of liz volumes.
including an index, and an atlas which
contains l7s plates and maps illustrating
the Important battles Of tbs war, CAM
paigns, routes Of march, plane Of forts.
and photographs Of interesting scenes,
places and persons.
The most voluminous encyclopedia
work In the world IL In the Berlin an
thropological m useum. 1t is In 1900 vol
umes. In Chinese. 1t embraces literature
philosophy, astronomy. natural sciance
and industries. L aoh volume has 100 to
l59 pages. Originally only 100 copies
were printed, and those we're not put on
sale. But recently new edition was
put forth, which sells at $500 for the set.
IL is splendidiy illustrated with maps
and pictures.
country was owned BY the historian. II.
n. Baner oft. 1t consists Of 10000 vol
umes, valued at 500, 000. A fine collection
Of manuscripts in dialect. and manu-
scripts relating to the early settlement OF
the Pacific coast. of the Spanish colonies
and the early ecclesiastical mission are
Moulded.
The highest price ever paid for q single
volume was $50, eco. 1t was for velluD
misssl, which was presented 70 King
Henry VIII. by Pope Leo. The mtssal
was accompanied by document making
King Henry the defender Of the faith. 1t
is now In the possession Of the Herman
government Charles II. save 1t to an
ancestor Of the Duke Of Hamilton. and IL
was sold few years ago at the sale
the Duke Of Hamilton's library.
A valuable manuscript, II not the most
valuable one In this country, ts owned BY
John Jacob Astor. who gave tio, Tor
1t. II IL the Storm mifsal. II is man
uscript measuring Is 7-s inches by Q a-s
inches; 1t has 1sa pages Of vsllum, and 10
bound in red morocco. Il was made Tor
Galeazo Sforza by the great Florent tine
artist, francesca Filippo Lippi.
Iron nails are studded all over the
covers of q sst Of missnls owned by Mrs..
Samuel Bovine Duryss Of brooklyn, who
paid $3.50 for the set. Il contains the full
musical score used In q European inonas-
tery-it 10 choir book.
Il Was supposed that only two copies OF
Washiugton's frat essay In authorship
existed, but In 1897 third copy came TO
who makes hobby Of collecting WASH
inetoninns; he quite willingly paid $1,000.
1.-The Journal Of Maj George Washing
ton" appears upon the title page, and 10
was printed In 1754.
In Russia miniature Bibles Are often
worn as watch charms. One Of thess
Bibles 10 about one inoh long, THREE
fourths Of an inch wide and thfes-sighths
Of an inch thick, and contains this first
Eve books Of the Old Testament. The
taxi OF the book Ii In Hebrew and the
title In Latin. IL oan b read only with
the help Of powerful magnifying glase.
The privilege of printing . Bible L
hardly Lass jsalously guarded In England
than 10 the privilege Of prining bank
note. Il il accorded By license to the
queens printers and By ohartsr to the
universities Of Oxford and Cambridge.
From these famous presses moro than
1000. 0C0 oopies OF the sacred book are
issued annually.
They range In price from ] do. TO fl0.
and In form from, the brilliant Bible.
which weighs less than four ounces. 20
the folio Bible, the pages Of which meas
ure 19x12 inches.
Not only In numbers. bat In point OF
tsrritary, ths circulation Of the Bible
exceeds all other books. The American
Bible society has Printed 10 In 300
tonauea