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Sunday, January 31, 2016

The World's Largest Bible

I have often referred to the Macklin Bible as the largest Bible ever printed.  It was very big:  7 volumes, 16 x 19 inches, over 100 pounds.  And as regularly published Bibles it is certainly one of the largest.  It is the largest massed produced Bible ever printed.

Louis Waynai & wife with press and Bible
But I just recently heard of a one-off Bible that is much larger.  It was printed by Louis Waynai, a Hungarian immigrant.  He used a home-made rubber stamping press to print each of the 8,048 pages of this King James Version Bible.  Just developing the press took him about two years.  When his press was ready, He then spent over 8,700 hours on the printing.  His work was ready to read in 1930.  Opened up it is 43 inches tall and 98 inches wide and 34 inches thick.  Waynai spent about $10,000 (USD) - a big expense for a carpenter!  It was constructed so that it could be disassembled into 31 sections.  Want to take this one to church?  You'll need help as it weighs 1,094 pounds.  There is a short video on Youtube (shown below) showing Waynai's Bible and demonstrating his press.



Waynai donated his work to a church in Fort Worth.  They eventually donated it to Abilene Christian University where it has been on display in the the Gaines B. Stanley Sr. Theological Reading Room.  In 2013 they sent the Bible off for restoration and to an exhibit.  There is another video on Youtube showing it being loaded onto a truck.  According to this page it is currently on display in Washington, D.C. (If you have a problem opening this link, right click on the link, copy it and paste it into your browser's address bar)

It appears that the Bible was restored at the Museum of the Bible in Oklahoma City, OK.  On their Facebook page they have a picture of what appears to be restoration work. 

Another video gives a different view of the Bible, again with Louis and his wife.  It is an old silent film but for some reason has an annoying thumping sound.  Turn the sound off by pointing your mouse cursor at the video.  In the lower left hand corner click on the speaker symbol.

 


Thanks to AM for bringing my attention to this incredible Bible.

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2 comments:

  1. GertrudeJune 17, 2016 at 4:05 AM

    Thanks for the information, nice article

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 29, 2019 at 2:02 PM

    Thank you for your excellent article. I have been trying to locate a very large edition of the KJV published by the World Publishing Company of Cleveland, Ohio in 1949. The church I currently attend has one of these Bibles but I have not been able to locate another copy anywhere on the internet. The dimensions are similar to the Macklin Bible except that the entire 66 books are bound in one volume. It probably weighs about 35 lbs. It may be a one-off. World Publishing is no longer in existence. If you would have any information on this Bible I would be greatly appreciative. Thank you.
    James Parry

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