I've got this Sophia Bible from 1855...

by KoprollendeParkiet

Someone advised me to ask you guys this. I've got this Sophia Bible from 1855, my question to you guys is how much of an historical artifact is this? And what should I do with it?

jonwilliamsl

As gorgeous as that one is, it's honestly not much of a historical artifact. The Bible is the most printed book in the world; bibles printed mechanically (rather than by hand), like yours was, are a dime a dozen. For example, I worked at a special collections library that tasked me with going through all of the 19th-century bibles they had and seeing which could be thrown away: they take up too much room and unless they had family details (people often record births and marriages and deaths in bibles) they were getting tossed.

As far as what you should do with it, basically whatever you want. Don't stress about it.

As far as preservation, it's in good shape: store it lying down, closed and unlatched, and in a dark, cool, dry place.