School makes 340-year-old discovery... Old world craftsmanship survives 3 centuries

[SoCalDem]

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/school-makes-340-year-old-discovery

School makes 340-year-old discovery
Old world craftsmanship survives 3 centuries

Updated: Wednesday, 12 Jan 2011, 8:20 AM CST
Published : Tuesday, 11 Jan 2011, 4:06 PM CST

* Reporter: Beth Jones

BONDUEL - A 340-year-old discovery has put a small Lutheran school and church in Bonduel on the worldwide map. A 17th century Bible was found inside St. Paul Lutheran School. It's old world craftsmanship that's survived more than three centuries. According to researchers, the 1,500 page Lutheran Bible was printed in 1670 in Germany. It's a re-published version of Martin Luther's translation of the Holy Bible.

"We've spanned this gap with this Bible - two centuries. Most of our stuff is from the 1800s floating around here," explained Church Pastor Timothy Shoup. More than two years ago, sixth grade teacher Debra Court discovered the book in an old safe located in the school. Her initial thought: it's just another old book. "I was looking for the old baptism records to show my students and then up here in the corner was where the Bible was tucked," explained Court.

But it took two years to realize how special it was. Eventually, the pastor sent pictures to the Concordia Seminary Library in St. Louis. A cataloger there was able to authenticate the 340-year-old book. Experts say the book looks to be in relatively good condition, especially because the brass clasps that are still intact. They say detailed illustrations were also impressive.


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[xchrom]

1. recommend

[eowyn_of_rohan]

2. What a great find

Bonduel is a small town in northeast Wisconsin- an area where many German immigrants settled in the mid-1800's.

[japple]

3. Thanks for posting. My book group just finished

reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks and this find is especially interesting.