Elvis adds gloss to Bible show
Credit: PA
A BIBLE (right) owned and annotated by Elvis Presley is
to go on show in All Hallows' by the Tower, London, tomorrow. It
was auctioned last week for £59,000 - more than double the
auctioneer's estimate of £25,000.
The new owner, an American private collector who lives in the
UK, has lent it for the exhibition "Bonuses, Benefits and Bailouts:
The Morality of the King James Bible".
The 1600-page Bible, with gold-embossed leather cover, was given
to Presley in 1957 by his Uncle Vester and Aunt Clettes, for his
first Christmas at his home Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. He
used it until his death on 16 August 1977, aged 42. It contains his
handwritten notes and thoughts, such as: "There is a season for
everything, patience will reward you and reveal all answers to your
questions."
The curator of the exhibition, David Smith, said: "It will stand
beside a rare copy of the 1953 Coronation Bible - the King's Bible
alongside the Queen's."
The sale-room manager at Omega Auctions, Stockport, Karen
Fairweather, said that there had been 300 people at the auction,
and phone and online bidding. The Bible was part of a collection
owned by a British Elvis enthusiast.
The exhibition is presented by the Museum of the Book and
displays an evolving collection of manuscripts, first-edition
Bibles, prayer books, and other artefacts. It is open: Monday to
Friday, 9 a.m.-5.30 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.,
until 22 September. Admission free.
allhallowsbythetower.org.uk