relevant to both your library post and archival paper post: on the west wing when the president is being sworn in, he wants to use the bible washington used, but preservationists won’t let him. he goes through a bunch of bibles he’d like to use, but the orgs that own them either have specific climate-control requirements or public access protocols, so he ends up using a gideon’s bible from a motel. BOOKS!
Ok but have I never told you my FAVORITE rare book bible swearing in story???
This was told to me by the chief of rare books at LoC.
So, when Obama was sworn in he asked to be sworn in on Abraham Lincoln’s bible. This upset various Republicans bc they thought he was getting special treatment or something. So when John Boehner was going to be sworn in as Speaker of the House, he too wanted to be sworn in on a special bible.
So, an aide from Boehner’s office calls up special collections at LoC and says Boehner wants to be sworn in on the first bible printed in America. The librarian says, “Are you sure you want that bible?” and the aide gets kind of snippy and says, “We know what we want–we want the first bible printed in America,” and kind of goes off on a tear about preferential treatment, et c. et c. The librarian says fine and makes the arrangements.
So the day comes when the bible is to be taken out of special collections and the aide shows up to retrieve it. The librarian brings out the book and shows it to the aide, who throws up her hands and says “What the hell is this!!” The librarian says, “This is the first bible printed in America.” The aide says, “No it’s not. This can’t be the bible. I can’t read it.”
To the end of my days, I will think of this unknown Republican aide who is under the impression that all bibles are in a language that she can personally read.
Incidentally, the Eliot bible predates the first English-language bible printed in America by more than 100 years.
Kimchi and Justice 