Storing Your Bible
Q. I now have quite a few Bibles, some of which are premium leather, what is the best way to store these? Flat? In a bookshelf? In their original box? A. The old time preacher in me is saying, "Bibles are meant to be used, not stored!" But I know exactly what you mean. Tolstoy once asked, "How much land does a man need?" My wife has wondered the same thing about Bibles. Growing up, I had just one Bible -- a gift, no less -- and it never occurred to me until my early twenties that it was possible to buy another. Once I got the bug, though, I never stopped, and this site is a testament to that fact.
On principle, I don't coddle the Bible I'm currently using. Typically, you'll find it on a table wherever I happened to set it down last. But what about the ones I'm not using? First off, I never store them upright on a bookshelf the way you would normal books, because the soft leather covers don't seem made for that. Instead, I stack them flat. If the original box is still around, I use it. Hardbacks are obviously an exception to this rule, and so are Bibles in the old Cambridge slip-cases, which are made to stand on the shelf. Everything else is on its side to avoid bending, which can crease covers and rumple pages.
