Items of Interest April 16, 2012 Issue

A Bible collector's discoveries

Donald L. Brake, Sr.

“A Bible collector’s unexpected discovery in an unlikely place” The Washington Times Communities. February 27, 2012. 

The building was honeycombed with interconnecting hallways, heavily secured side rooms, and huge wire bins with gates requiring security card swipes from appropriate authorities. No, it wasn’t Fort Knox; it was a beautiful stone building complex housing a church, a printing division for a well-respected newspaper, and a unique library. It is the worldwide headquarters of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in the heart of downtown Boston.

A few weeks preceding my encounter with The Mary Baker Eddy Library, I was contacted by the Library’s Senior Curator, Alan Lester. He confirmed the Library’s possession of a first edition of the King James Bible (“He” edition, named for its reading in Ruth 3:15: “and he went into the city”) and sent me a description so it could be included in my publication of the King James Bible census.

I was asked by the Senior Curator, Mr. Lester, to fly to Boston to assess the Library’s collection and advise them on its value and the historical significance of more than 600 Bibles of The Mary Baker Eddy Library (Mary Baker Eddy was the founder of the Christian Science Church, 1821–1910). Although many of the Bibles were duplicates or Bibles with very little historical importance, to my utter delight I discovered a number of very significant Bibles.

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