Iconic books are texts revered as objects of power rather than just as words of instruction, information, or insight. In religious and secular rituals around the globe, people carry, show, wave, touch and kiss books and other texts, as well as read them. This blog chronicles such events and activities. (For more about iconic books, see the links to the Iconic Books Project at left.)

Monday, May 28, 2007

"An Extraordinary Bible"

Arion Press offers a "monument to the scriptures" with the introduction of its "Folio Bible," a lecturn edition that "seeks to preserve all that is best in the English Bible as it has been known and used throughout the years." Andrew Hoyem (pictured), the publisher of the Folio Bible, remarks that the text is embedded into the paper: "What you are seeing here is rather like a stone inscription, cut into stone with a three-dimensional effect." Another artisan involved in the publication of the Folio Bible comments that “It reminds me of building a cathedral because it's hard physical work, such as moving the heavy galleys and all the other lifting.”

It's not for bargain hunters, which begs the question of "What's an icon worth, anyway?"

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