Recently I answered a Freecycle ad for a Swedish Bible. Not that we really need another Bible (we own at least 8 various ones) or that we could read the Swedish language, but I answered anyway. I wanted to see what one looked like. What I found was a treasure.
(Click on image to view a larger version.)
It was a sunny but chilly day when I picked this up from a friendly gentleman. He handed over into my hands a Book that was weathered and crumbling in my hands. I held it gently as I opened it up to the front page. A handwritten inscription adorned the page. In Swedish, it was dated 1912.
(Click on image to view a larger version.)
I wondered what the personal inscription said. The Bible verse that was noted was 1 John 2:17:
And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever.
I took this Bible home and it sits upon our table in our reading room. I gaze upon it wondering what lives did this Good Book guide. Somehow, I feel connected to these Christians of a different time and I look forward to the hope that perhaps one day I will get to meet the author of the inscription in Heaven.
See more aging photos at The Land of K.A. >
What a great find! I would have snapped up that treasure, too. Beautiful piece of history and of someone’s life.
WOW what a treasure – your post made me cry, silly maybe – but a beautiful book!
Not silly, Jenn. I literally gasped finding out that it was inscribed and all. All I could think of was of past hands that have held this Bible.
Oh WOW! What a beautiful, fascinating find! I SO understand why you’d be drawn to it. What an amazing piece of history!
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I love it! I work part-time at an antique store, so I am all about treasures from the past. What a beautiful find for you! I love that you will cherish it. What a shame the family that owned that did not. That always makes me sad.
I wonder if you could find a way to interpret it?
I am blog-hopping from Lacy’s blog! I enjoyed my “hop” here! Come visit me if you have the time!
-Gina
very cool and VERY old indeed!
Gina, I was thinkin of trying to run it through BabelFish. If that is not successful I uploaded the picture to Flickr to see if there might be someone from Sweden who could translate. We’ll see!
I love that you posted about this! Old Bibles are a true gift! Just turning the pages and thinking about the hands that turned them through the ages, and the tears that have blurred the print is a spiritual journey!
What a find!
Blessings!
Lacy
Wow, great shots. I love old books. Actually I think they smell pretty neat.
That is awesome! What a great find, and a really great verse for the inscription!
So neat! You can never have too many Bibles!
That is so cool! I love old books and bibles, and other things, they have so much unspoken history that I often wonder about.