Dunham Bible Museum

The smallest Bible in the Dunham’s collection is a microfilmed Bible taken to the Moon and back by Apollo 14 in February 1971. This is one of 101 copies taken to the moon by Astronaut Edgar Mitchell during his nine hour and seventeen minute moonwalk. The microfilm Bible contains all 1,245 pages of the King James Bible edition 715 published by World Publishing. It can be read with 200x magnification. Members of the Apollo Prayer League commissioned the special first lunar Bible. Bible Societies in 57 different countries united in participating in this project, as well as commercial Bible publishers. This was not the first time the Bible was in space, however. Apollo 8 was the first manned mission to orbit the Moon. On Christmas Eve, 1968, Apollo 8’s crew of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders sent a message to “all the people on Earth.”

This complete Torah on parchment (which technically means sheepskin) is twenty-six inches high (the rollers add another 10 inches to the height) and is approximately 105 feet long. The scribing has been identified as that of a school of scribes in Northern Italy, in the early 13th century. Further provenance given me was that the scroll was later taken to Poland, and most recently came out of Russia about 1994. (It likely was hidden during the Communist Regime.) It has been carefully repaired probably hundreds of times, with the repairs made from the reverse side of the text. Most of these repairs cannot be detected from the text side. (The number of repairs has never counted, but in one 3 foot section in Numbers where I have often exhibited it, the repairs number over a dozen.) Rabbi Yitzhak Goldstein, world-authority on Hebrew scrolls, says it still could be made Kosher by retouching some of the script in a few area's that have become somewhat faded. (At the time of this writing, Rabbi Goldstein was identified as the Director of Jerusalem's Machon Ot Institute. They travel around the world to evaluate, examine and restore Torahs.) Mr. F. J. "Rusty" Maisel was able to acquire this scroll through his personal relationship with a Mr. Michael Shiffman in New York City who primarily facilitates the acquiring of scrolls for Jewish Synagogues. It was put on new rollers at the time of acquisition, so that it can be readily handled. It is accompanied with a beautiful hand-embroidered cover using gold thread, the cover judged to be approximately a hundred years of age. The Hebrew embroidered in the gold thread has been translated for me to the effect that this scroll was given to a synagogue on the occasion of a Bar mitzvah, by his family.

The first entire English Bible printed in America. As early as 1777 in the War for Independence, Congress considered funding the importation of Bibles from Holland or Scotland. Robert Aitken, an immigrant from Scotland, published a New Testament, then asked Congress’ permission to publish the entire Bible. As his petition noted, “in every well regulated Government in Christendom” the Holy Bible was “published under the Authority of the Sovereign Powers, in order to prevent the fatal confusion that would arise, and the alarming Injuries the Christian faith might suffer from the Spurious and erroneous Editions of Divine Revelation.” Aitken printed Congress’ authorization and support in the front of his Bible. This was the only Bible ever authorized by an act of Congress.

This microfilm Bible is one of 101 copies carried to the lunar surface by Apollo 14 Lunar Module Pilot Edgar D. Mitchell. The Bible was produced by the Apollo Prayer League, a group of NASA engineers, scientists, administrators and astronauts, Bible societies in 57 different countries and commercial Bible publishers participated in creating a milt-version Bible on Microform. The project was headed by Apollo Prayer League Director, Reverend John M. Stout, who worked closely with the astronauts and NASA personnel. The microfilm contains all 1,245 pages of the King James Bible Edition 715 published by World Publishing, which can easily be read under a microscope and represents the first Bible ever landed on the lunar surface. Three attempts were made to land a lunar Bible on the moon before it finally made lunar landfall. The shield is comprised of the biblical shield of faith accented with pave diamonds and a Brazilian garnet. The horses on either side symbolize readiness in service. Holly leaves held in their mouths represent truth. The biblical shield is topped with a crown with the initials "APL" for the Apollo Prayer League in whose name the Bible was carried by Apollo 14 Lunar Module Pilot Edgar D. Mitchell. The cross of Christ rises up from the crown embellished and passes vertically down through the entire piece transforming as it emerges beneath the shield into the powerful sword of spirit. The microfilm lunar Bible housing is 5.75" w x 4.75" h and .2" to 315" d sealed with 24 karat gold and accented with diamonds and a garnet. A high-intensity lacquer is used to enhance and protect the piece. The encasement dimensions are 39 3/8" w x 19 3/4" h x 1 f/8" d. It is estimated that less than 20 serialized lunar-landed microfilm Bibles are in circulation today, many held in private collections. Estimated value of the rare artifacts is $50,000 to $75,000 each. On either side of the framed lunar Bible is a signed certification of the authenticity of the Bible and photos of the Apollo 14 landing, wiuth Edgar Mitchell and Rev. Stout. Accompanying the framed microfilmed Bible is a leatherette folder containing the following: * Photo of John M. Stout at Cape Canaveral, 1964 *Photo of Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchel presenting first lunar Bible to Rev. John Stout after his release from quarantine *2009 photo of Rev. Stout *Photo of Rev. Stout and Carol Mersch *John Stout affidavit on the authenticity and history of the lunar Bible *Apollo 15 "Genesis Rock"

This collection of Bible stories for children is illustrated with fifty hand-colored engraved plates.

Johann Gutenberg (cs. 1400-1468) invented the first printing press with moveable metal type. Previous to Gutenberg’s invention, all books had been written by hand, one book at a time. With Gutenberg’s development of printing, a scribe’s work for one day could be accomplished in a few minutes. Between 1452 and 1455, Gutenberg printed his first book – the Latin Vulgate Bible. He printed about 180 copies, 48 of which have survived in some part. Fourteen copies are in the United States. In 2000, Time magazine named Gutenberg the “Man of the Millennium.”

In translating the Scripture, Martin Luther tried to render the Greek and Hebrew originals into common German. Luther’s Bible avoided regional dialects and led to a standardized written German. Luther first published his New Testament in 1522. The complete Bible was published in 1534. Luther’s translation remains the standard German Bible translation today. The woodcuts in the first edition were done in the workshop of Lucas Cranach and were hand-painted. The 2003 reprint was made from the edition in the Stiftung Weimarer Klassik/Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek.

John Hellstern: This Bible was sold to me by an antiquarian book dealer in London as likely being scribed at Cambridge, England about 1180. Description: There are 148 vellum sheets, making a total of 296 r. and v. pages. Each page is approximately 5 by 7 ½ inches. The vellum is somewhat of a darker hue (due to age?) than later scribed Bibles. The first few pages of Genesis and the last few of the Psalms, two music pages, and 2 pages of prayers are even darker, almost certainly due to greater handling and length of time that this portion of the Bible was in a pre-bound state before my purchasing it. (See note below on purchase and binding.) The text is scribed in brown ink, typical of the above suggested dating, and measures approximately 3 1/8 by 5 ¼ inches, with about 10 lines per inch, and a full page numbering between 53 to 57 lines. Red and blue ink rubrication denotes both Book divisions as wells as major divisions of the text, later identified as chapter divisions. This hand rubrication begins with a capital letter, but continues with scroll work down the sides and middle of the text. The text is scribed on quite strongly marked lines, typical of Bibles done at Cambridge. (Cf. the website below on the Cambridge Bible.) The script is very similar to a 53 line Bible scribed in England about 1220-1240: Cf. http://www.humi.keio.ac.jp/~matsuda/catalogue/leaf/main/124-v.html

The first book printed in America and the first book entirely written in the American colonies was The Bay Psalm Book. This was quite an accomplishment, just 20 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, and 10 years after the Puritan Migration to Massachusetts. The first printing press in New England was purchased and imported specifically to print this book. The translations were prepared by a group of thirty clergymen. No tunes were printed in the first edition, though later editions included music. The Bay Psalm Book went through numerous editions and continued in use in the churches over 100 years. This is a facsimile of the 1640 edition.

The first Bible to be printed in America was John Eliot’s translation of the Bible into Algonquian. The first seal of the Massachusetts colony included the picture of a native American speaking the words “Come and help us.” (from Acts 16:9). Sharing the Gospel with the natives was an early aim of the colony. John Eliot, pastor in Roxbury, Massachusetts, especially concentrated on learning Algonquian and developing a written language for the natives. In 1663 he printed the Indian Bible. The actual printing of the Bible took three years, printing one thousands copies of one page a week. This was the first edition of the Bible published in America. When Cotton Mather first saw this Bible, he exclaimed, "Behold, ye Americans, the greatest honour that ever you were partakers of! This…is the only Bible that ever was printed in all America, from the foundation of the World." This epochal edition was a remarkable achievement for a press in Colonial America. Known famously as the Eliot Indian Bible, it is the first Bible printed in the New World, and it is also the first printed in a language with the intent of catechizing a native people. The translator was John Eliot, a Puritan minister in Roxbury, Massachusetts, who at age forty-two commenced a fifteen-year study of the Narrangansett, or Massachusetts, dialect of the Indian tribes in the vicinity. The work of translation took another eight years. Cotton Mather remarked: "The long words must have been stretching themselves out from the time of the confusion of tongues at Babel." Printing began in 1660 with type, press, and printed shipped from England by the Corporation for the Promoting and Propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in New England. The New Testament was issued in 1661, the entire Bible in 1663.

Seventeenth Century Scroll of Esther, illuminated in a 15th Century Italian style: The text is in Hebrew, on very fine vellum and is just at thirteen feet in length. It is highly illuminated in a 15th century Italian style with 28 miniatures of the main characters of the story-King Xerxes, Vashti, Mordecai, Esther and Haman-repeated down the entire length of the scroll in its appropriate location to the text. Other miniatures show King Xerxes' banquet, Esther approaching the King for an audience, Haman leading Mordecai through the streets on a horse, Haman and his ten sons on the gallows, etc. Angels, marble pillars, and mythological figures become a regular part of border of this beautifully decorated scroll. Only the first approximate three feet of the vellum scroll show signs of wear consistent with an age of 17th century. This, however, would be consistent with a scroll of that length being exhibited for just the first few feet, rather than unwinding it for its full length. It was likely commissioned by a wealthy Jewish family as a treasure to show only to friends, expressing some of the high admiration in which Esther is revered as a heroin of their faith. For securely exhibiting it, we had a thirteen foot, clear acrylic case made for wall hanging. Acquisition: Dr. Brake and I were preparing for a major exhibit at the Biblical Arts Center in Dallas in 1995. (This was the first exhibit in which we demonstrated the full-scale Guterberg Press.) As I was traveling to Dallas one day I received a phone call from Martin Winkle of Bruddenbrooks that he had just received a beautifully illuminated scroll of Esther, and knowing I was looking for an illuminated scroll of Hebrew Scripture, said, "I am going to send it to you on approval!" He continued, "I don't want to put it in the store, or in the catalogue, because it needs to go to you and be exhibited!" I gulped inside when he told me the price, but I told him to send it anyway. When it arrived and we unrolled this extraordinarily decorated piece of Scripture, I told my wife the quoted price. But she said, almost without hesitation, "I know you have always wanted an illuminated piece of Hebrew Scripture, and we have the profit from the sale of the Enid home in the bank, go ahead and get it!" (Often today when I tell people who ask, "Where did you get that beautiful scroll?" I get emotional as I tell the above, and thank God silently for a very understanding wife.)

The first book printed in America and the first book entirely written in the American colonies was The Bay Psalm Book. This was quite an accomplishment, just 20 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, and 10 years after the Puritan Migration to Massachusetts. The first printing press in New England was purchased and imported specifically to print this book. The translations were prepared by a group of thirty clergymen. No tunes were printed in the first edition, though later editions included music. The Bay Psalm Book went through numerous editions and continued in use in the churches over 100 years. This is a facsimile of the 1640 edition.

This 1581 Geneva Bible was brought to America by Christopher Avery in 1630-1640. Family tradition says Christopher and his ten year old son James were on the Arbella with John Winthrop. James Avery became a founder of Groton, Connecticut and was a prominent government and church leader. The Bible continued in the possession of James Avery and his descendants until placed on loan at the Dunham Bible Museum in 2013.

Out of this World: The Bible on the Moon!

Out of this World: The Bible on the Moon!

Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first to land and walk on the moon. After the Eagle, the lunar module, landed on the moon’s surface, Buzz Aldrin held a private communion service and read Jesus’ words from John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” The astronauts left an American flag on the moon and a silicon disk with messages from 74 global leaders. Pope Paul VI’s message included a quote from Psalm 8, which Aldrin also quoted on his return trip to earth: “When I look at the sky, which you have made, the moon and the stars which you set in their places – what is man that you think of him?”

Out of this World: The Bible on the Moon!

Christmas Eve, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8, James Lovell, Frank Borman, and Bill Anders, became the first humans to orbit the moon. The crew focused their camera on the lunar landscape and broadcast a message on TV back to “all the people of the Earth.” Each member of the crew read a portion of Genesis 1:1-10, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…and God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas; and God saw that it was good.” As the Apollo 8 crew circled the moon, they took brilliant photos of planet Earth, as well as the moon’s surface. On Christmas day, they took the famous photo of the Earthrise over the Moon.