The Lincoln Inaugural Bible, Chapter and Verse
Posted on: January 14th, 2009 by Matt Raymond
The Library of Congress often provides Bibles from its vast collections for the use of Members of Congress during their swearing-in ceremonies. But it is not every day that a president-elect makes the same request for his inauguration. It is rarer still when that Bible is the same one upon which Abraham Lincoln first took the oath of office in 1861. (In fact, as far as we can tell, that Bible has not been used by a president since Honest Abe himself.)
But that’s exactly what Barack Obama is doing, in keeping with the very Lincolnesque theme of his inauguration.
The historic meeting between past and present, symbolized by a single book, has caught the public’s attention. (A quick search in Google News reveals at least 600 articles.)
Because there are few high-resolution images of the Lincoln Inaugural Bible available on our Web site, I wanted to provide several of them here.
The Lincoln Bible, by the way, will be among the items on display in “With Malice Toward None,” our exhibit opening Feb. 12 that honors the 200th birthday of our 16th president.
The images follow the jump. (Warning: The images that are linked to by the thumbnails are pretty large, each in the 5 to 6MB region.)
(All photos credit “Michaela McNichol”)
Title page of the 1861 Lincoln Inaugural Bible
The balance of the images follow the jump …
Mark Dimunation, chief of the Library of Congress' Rare Books and Special Collections Division, holds open the 1861 Lincoln Inaugural Bible to the page signed by the clerk of the Supreme Court, William Thomas Carroll
Mark Dimunation, chief of the Library of Congress' Rare Books and Special Collections Division, in the Library's Main Reading Room, holds open the 1861 Lincoln Inaugural Bible to the page signed by the clerk of the Supreme Court, William Thomas Carroll
The front cover of the 1861 Lincoln Inaugural Bible
Alternate view of the front cover of the 1861 Lincoln Inaugural Bible
The 1861 Lincoln Inaugural Bible against the backdrop of the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress
The 1861 Lincoln Inaugural Bible, opened to the page signed by the clerk of the Supreme Court, William Thomas Carroll, attesting that the book was used for Lincoln's oath of office
Alternate view of the 1861 Lincoln Inaugural Bible, opened to the page signed by the clerk of the Supreme Court, William Thomas Carroll, attesting that the book was used for Lincoln's oath of office
January 14th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
[...] … would release street view in the UK… Google Maps UK (via TechCrunch) Related posts The Lincoln Inaugural Bible, Chapter and Verse - loc.gov 01/14/2009 The Library of Congress often provides Bibles from its vast collections for [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
[...] image comes from the Library of Congress blog, which has a wonderful post on the Bible with several other [...]
January 16th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Wow - I think it is very cool that President elect Obama choose this Inaugural Bible to take his oath of office. I am also very proud to say that my place of employment, “The Library of Congress” was able to provide the President with what he needed. You go LC! Big up to Mark too. It’s all good!!!
January 16th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
[...] The Lincoln Inaugural Bible, Chapter and Verse [...]
January 17th, 2009 at 5:36 am
Obama is truely a man of purpose and history. He has great mind and to prove a point on his believe for change, he made this choice. He is a symbol of unity for the past and the present;Americans-old,young, rich or poor , black or white and the world at large. And waoo,to me, Library of Congress is just the world’s best asset that can not be toyed with. Keep up the good work LOC!
January 18th, 2009 at 5:06 am
[...] concert tomorrow at the Lincoln Memorial, and will take the oath of office Tuesday with one hand on the Bible that Lincoln used in 1861. Inaugural planners drew so many ties between the Illinois [...]
January 18th, 2009 at 10:30 am
[...] concert tomorrow at the Lincoln Memorial, and will take the oath of office Tuesday with one hand on the Bible that Lincoln used in 1861. Inaugural planners drew so many ties between the Illinois [...]
January 18th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
It gives me chills to know that the very bible that Lincoln’s hand rested on during a time when he longed for a united country where slavery would be abolished… that the constitution which he was swearing to uphold as president would actually treat all men as created equally…this same bible will support the weight of a black man’s hand as he too wears to uphold the same magnificent constitution. May God bless this united country!
January 27th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
I noticed the commemorative issue of Time Magazine has an outstanding photograph on the cover of Mrs. Obama holding the Lincoln bible whilst the President rests his hand upon it.
Matt, could you please tell us if the bible has a new inscription testifying that it was used in President Obama’s inauguration similar to the previous inscription?
If so, may we please see a photograph of the new inscription?