From CNN Belief Blog:
Hilmarton, England (CNN) - A little English village church has just made a remarkable discovery.
The ornate old Bible that had been sitting in plain view on a table near the last row of pews for longer than anyone could remember is an original King James Bible - one of perhaps 200 surviving 400-year-old original editions of arguably the most important book ever printed in English.
In fact, the Bible at St. Laurence Church in Hilmarton, England, was sitting right under a hand-lettered sign saying it was an original.
The sign said it had been found in "the parish chest" in 1857, that the cover had been added, and that it was the second of the two impressions published in 1611 - the year of first publication.
....
The people of St. Laurence Church are now trying to raise money to build a special case so they can keep their Bible in use and on regular display.
That would make the church more or less unique so far as Goff knows, although she speculated that there just might be a few village churches still using their 400-year-old Bibles.
"It's possible there are one or two churches that have gone on doing it and they just haven't thought to say," she said.
"People are now beginning to realize the value of this particular edition. This is the 400th anniversary and there is a lot more emphasis on it," she said.
"They value it. They want to keep it and they want to use it."
I love stories like this one from St Lawrence, of treasures hidden in plain sight in very ordinary places.
Thanks to Ann V. for the link.
