Bible

The World of Rare Books: The Gutenberg Bible, First and Most Valuable

There are countless rare books in the world, but by most expert's standards the rarest of them all is the Gutenberg Bible. It was the first book ever printed back in 1456, and although several hundred copies were originally printed finding a complete first edition would net you $25-$35 million. In today's market single pages alone go for $25,000 each, and several years ago just 1 volume (it's a 2 volume set) sold for $5.5 million.

Besides the Gutenberg Bible other rare books include the first edition of Shakespeare's collected works from 1623 (worth $6 million), a collection of Leonardo da Vinci's manuscripts (potentially worth as much as $100 million), and of course any first edition copy of the Declaration of Independence (worth $8 million). Edgar Allen Poe's work also makes in onto the "rarest books" list with his first published poem ("Tamerlane") being rare and difficult to find due to a byline of simply "By A Bostonian." It's worth as much as $200,000 to the right buyer.

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Tags: Bible, book, books, Declaration of Independence, DeclarationOfIndependence, Edgar Allen Poe, EdgarAllenPoe, first edition, FirstEdition, Gutenberg, rare, rarest, Shakespeare, the rare, TheRare

Luxury Hotels Lose The Bible

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

We've seen a lot of hotel trends over the years, plasma TVs, the rise of free wi-fi, pillow butlers, in-room fitness equipment and all sorts of adjustments as hotels adapt to the greening of America but the latest might just be the disappearance of an old favorite. ABC News has a story on the fact that luxury hotels are ditching the tradition of the Bible tucked in the bedside drawer. According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the number of luxury hotels that stock the Bible and other religious items has dropped 18 percent since 2001. Luxury chains taking part in the trend include Kimpton Hotels, the Borgata in Atlantic City and the Gansevoort Hotel Group. The hotels all offer various religious materials that are available by request.

This trend is on the luxury side. In other motels, hotels and inns, the number of in-room Bibles has increased from 79 percent in 1988 to 95 percent today. In fact, a survey from the American Hotel and Lodging Association reveals that the more you pay for a hotel room the less likely you are to see a Bible. A full 99 percent of economy hotels have a Bible in the room but just 73 percent of luxury hotels provide one. Also Bibles are least likely to be found in urban hotels and resorts and are most often at hotels near interstate highways or at airports.

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Tags: bible, luxury hotels, trends

JUXTAPOSED: Religion Shelf

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

JUXTAPOSED: Religion is a bookshelf that is tailored to its contents, making it more of an art installation than just a storage device. It is the first in a series of "curated bookshelves," where the books that it is designed to hold are included with it. Given that the shelf is named Religion, it is not surprising that the texts here are religious ones. They include: the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, the Qur'an, Confucius' Analects, the Tao Te Ching, the Torah and the Discourses of the Buddha. The shelf will have a limited production of 50 pieces. Price: $2,500.

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Tags: bible, books, bookshelf, JUXTAPOSED, JUXTAPOSED: Religion, Juxtaposed:Religion, Religion, shelf, torah

Good China, Bad China

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Normally "fun" and "bone china" do not go together, since elegant place settings are standard when china is concerned. The Good China, Bad China collection, by Peter MacCann from thorsten van elten, retains the classic look of plain, white china with a simple twist, which would be revealed as the plate was cleared of food during a meal. At the center of each plate is one of the 7 Deadly Sins or 7 Seven Contrary Virtues. Plate pairs are Humility against Pride, Kindness against Envy, Chastity against Lust, Temperance against Anger, Charity against Greed and Diligence against Sloth. Abstinence and Gluttony make up the serving plates. Serving plates aside, half the fun of the meal will be deciding which dinner guests should get which plate. We recommend giving the sins to the guests who have a better sense of humor, so as not to bring down the mood of the party. The plates are £25 per pair and the serving plates are £50.