Leaf from Gutenberg Bible Donated to Library Collection

Dr. Charles Tandy donated a leaf of the Gutenberg Bible to the Richardson Library during the Board of Development meeting on March 24.

Printed in 1455, the Gutenberg Bible was the first book ever published using the printing press. The page donated contains 1 Chronicles 8:37-10:14 in Latin. It will be housed in the Tandy Bible Collection, which includes over one hundred early translations of the English Bible.

“I knew that there was a piece that was lacking in our collection at Hardin-Simmons,” said Tandy, a 1949 alumnus and Distinguished Alumni Award recipient. He purchased the piece at a Sotheby’s auction in New York for $47,500. 

Dr. Elizabeth Worley, Dean of Libraries, expressed the library’s gratitude for Dr. Tandy’s remarkable collection. 

“Dr. Tandy loves HSU and he loves Bibles. He and his wife are very generous to the library,” she said.

In addition to this leaf, the collection includes a first edition of the King James Bible (1611) sometimes referred to as the “Great He Bible” because it uses “he” in Ruth 3:15 as well as a copy of the “Great She Bible,” a 1613 edition of the King James Version that translates Ruth 3:15 as “she.” Other notable pieces include the first edition of the Geneva Bible (1560), the Bible cited in the works of William Shakespeare, and the first Bible brought to North America.  

The Tandy Bible Collection is located on the second floor of the library in the Betty Woods Fine and Rare Book Room. Because of the nature of the materials, the collection is not open to the public. However, it is open for appointments and special events such as the purple and gold Bible presentations for freshmen students.