Bibles

How many Bibles do you have? I don't want to think of how many I have had and as I sit here, I can see a whole shelf full that I currently have. However, Bibles are like an addiction for me. I love them. I love the smell of a new Bible. I love the feel of those soft smooth pages stuck together before they have all been separated from each other through use. At the same time, my very favorite Bible is the one I have had for many years. The cover is worn, the binding mutilated on the edges. Some of the pages have torn through use and are scotch taped. I have lots and lots of highlighting and markings (notes) in it. My sister calls that Bible my Velveteen Rabbit. If you have never read that children's story, you really need too because it is a wonderfully touching story about a little boy and his stuffed rabbit that becomes badly worn from all his love. Anyway, if I had to try and recopy everything from my velveteen rabbit Bible into another Bible, it would take me forever. But, that's exactly what I am trying to do right now. I'm trying to copy everything over into my KJV Matthew Henry Bible. Now, this particular Bible is huge. It has all this commentary in it for all the verses. It's a heavy thing to pack around but I love it. Well, I decided the other day that I wish I had not highlighted all the stuff in it that I did and made up my mind that I wanted to buy another one and only use ink. That has proved to be a difficult project. This particular Bible has gone out of print. I have searched and searched the internet for 3 days looking for another copy. I finally found one last night and emailed the seller with a couple of questions. He responded today and I sent him a payment for it, knowing that I had probably purchased the last real treasure. I then get an email from him letting me know that he had sold the Bible two hours prior to my payment. I was heartbroken. I cannot get this Bible anywhere in the world in a leather soft cover where it has not been used. I can find it, but it's in hardcover and the highest price I have seen on this particular Bible is $955.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, knowing that I could get a price like that for mine makes me really really wish I had never made any markings in mine, but then I wouldn't sell it anyway. I have seen this Bible for $300 but the $955 is the highest I have seen it selling for. Guess I will have to be content with the copy I have because I am probably never going to be able to find another one. Even the publisher was bought out and I can't get a copy from them either. The expensive copies that I can find are through rare and antiquated book web sites. Wish I had known a long time ago how rare this Bible would become because I might have bought a few more of them!