For me, things started going down hill from the moment my family purchased their Family Bible, that's me. It was 1837, they bought me from a stationers, it was common for stationers of the time to supply the family Bible ready bound. In the cities, the atmosphere was heavy with dilute sulphuric acid, caused by the burning of fossil fuels to heat and light the Industrial Revolution. In the long term, the acid in the atmosphere was going to wreak havoc with my leather cover, and after we got home, being kept on a table in front of the window didn’t help either, the ultra violet light in daylight also had a tendency to degrade the materials used in the family Bible. I was quite the focus of attention when I was young; the Family Bible became the spiritual center of the home. But as the 20th century dawned, I was 63 years old and the years had taken a toll on me. Victorian houses tended to be damp, and moisture is a vital ingredient in the process of decay that was taking place. Poignantly, after the First World War, letters of bereavement and news paper cuttings, together with dried flowers, were placed inside me for safe keeping. These flowers contained lignin, a plant acid, and were to cause long term damage to my pages. The newsprint made of very poor quality paper, was to yellow quickly and cause further damage. Eventually I was put in a box, only coming out when entries were made in the special family pages. I wish I could say that things got better, but in truth, during the 1950/60’s the family Bible was thought of less and less, no one consulted me anymore, but family events were still recorded. By now, the process of decay that had taken place within my leather cover had caused the leather to break down where I hinged, the front cover in particular was held very weakly, the leather here was dry and crumbling to the touch; it was only a matter of time. In 1968 it finally happened, someone got me out of my box and went to open me, my boards were very heavy, and the brass fittings I had made them heavier. As I was opened, my front cover just fell away. I was put back in my box and forgotten about. Being in a centrally heated home caused the adhesive used on my spine to break down, it was only paste after all, and then my spine linings began to come away, leaving my leather spine hanging by a thread. I think it was my family’s conscience that made them do something about their Family Bible. I was taken in my box to visit a family Bible repair man; I was going back to my roots, but that’s another story. By R.Norman
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