Nelson ASV Teacher's Bible (Vintage)

We can't all be so fortunate, so let's live vicariously through the experience of reader J. V. Smart. J. V. walked into an antique store and found a boxed copy of a Nelson ASV Teacher's Bible in mint condition. The price? Five dollars. Jealous yet? Of course, the antique store was running a half-off sale, so J. V. only had to pay $2.50. 

It's a paragraphed, double-column text setting. I don't know anything about the Teacher's Bible format, but perhaps someone can enlighten us?

Let's take a look at the photos and see what $2.50 will buy you ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

Comments

[Gary Zimmerli]

Thou dost cause me to covet, Mark!

[Matt Morales]

looks like Nelson had the Art gilt edges down pat...they should really start doing that again

[Stan McCullars]

And the Bible mysteriously opened to Mark. Hmmm.

[Stoddart]

What year was this published?

[Jesús S.]

If I told you how much they wanted charge me here in Madrid, Spain, for a quite inferior edition of the same translation...

Well. Let me congratulate the fortunate finder.

[Rachel Watkins]

That is an awesome find! Used book stores are just the most awesome places to shop.

Can I share my cool story too? I found a vintage bible (1947) at half-price books once which caused my boyfriend, with whom I was shopping, to cringe because of his feelings about Masonry, yet be fascinated as a lover of bibles - a Masonic edition, blue personal size, yapp edges (not sure the difference between semi and full) - the leather was stiff from many years of sitting in the original box, but it had been used before and the ribbon was frayed at the end. With a bit of massage oil (I've always got some laying around, and maybe I should have used specific leather conditioner), which the cover absorbed thirstily, and it was as pliable and limp as a bible of that size could be. Interesting sections in the front and back on Masonry too.

[Rich]

I actually have an identical copy of this bible, though mine is not new but in good/used condition. It was used by my great grandfather for many years through 1961 when he passed. He taught, preached and read through it completely every year from this edition. It was handed down to me by my grandfather as an heirloom. So Mark, this is a very special review for me. Thank you so much!

[Chris Bloom]

I guess I need to send in some pics of my mid-1950s Oxford 'Persian Morocco' find from the Salvation Army thrift store the other day. I mean, I paid a whole $2 for it ... I ought to show it off, right? ;)

[Chuck Bridgeland]

What a coincidence that I checked this blog today.

A month or two ago I picked up a Nelson leather bound ASV. Yapp style cover, "Nelson Guaranteed Binding", gilt on red page edges. The interior illustrations are early 20th century photographs of biblical locations, not fanciful depictions of biblical events.

The page layout is identical to a smaller Nelson ASV I have from the same time period. The page pictured above is identical in my bible, so I assume Nelson had one layout that was duplicated in different sizes for different editions.

It was presented to someone in 1928, the same year (I think) my grandparents were married. The leather is still in reasonably good shape, a little frayed on one corner -- I suspect this spent a lot of time sitting unused on a shelf. The paper is very slightly yellowed, and I'm a little afraid to give this any serious use on that account. Which is a shame, because it sits well in the hand.

Looks like this.

[hal]

I have two of these; one old one, and one new. The Teacher's Edition means it includes a bible dictionary, a 'combined' concordance (ASV concordance with alternative AV readings, some topical listings,and proper noun pronounciation key - the latter seems redundant since it's included in-text anyway) and a daily reading plan. It's basically an early example of a 1454-page study bible. Center column reference with a gazillion entries, and sparse but useful footnotes.

The old one I rescued from the trash a couple decades ago; all pages were together and intact, but no covers, so I made my own from what I had around at the time, which was some very thin laminating sheets which I covered with wide black book-tape. It's not pretty, but it has a great feel to it, though my wife likes the look for some odd reason.

The red under gold on that old one is almost entirely red now. The new one is not red under gold anymore, just gilt, but done well. "Fine quality bible paper" does seem so to me. All the text and helps are identical with the old with one exception; the old one has an indexed set of color maps, which the new lacks. The new one is still available from www.starbible.com (I'm not affiliated), though they only list the bonded leather and you have to view details to discover that it is indeed the Teacher's Edition.

I don't think they're a high-volume company, and the genuine leather runs sixty or seventy bucks - can't remember now - while the bonded is only thirty. Like the Ford Model T, it is available in any color. My order arrived quickly.

When I ordered it a year or so ago, I asked about genuine leather and was surprised to find they had those in stock since they don't list it on their site. The leather is about the same as my genuine leather ESV PSR (thank you, Mark, I sought it out after reading about it here) though has a prettier grain imo.

To find an original, in very good condition for $2.50 was a great deal on a dated, but very good translation.