ABOUT US
Frequently Asked Questions

Can you discuss / evaluate / help identify/ appraise/ a Bible that I already own? … and might you be interested in buying it from me?
Yes, but BEFORE you call or E-Mail us, about your Bible or book, you MUST FIRST go to our Appraisals Page, and follow the required steps there. It will only take a moment. Please do not call us or email us with questions about a Bible or book that you own, until AFTER you visit the Appraisals Page, and see if your question is answered there, as it is 90% of the time.

Can you send me a PRINTED catalogue or list of available items?
No...sorry. We do NOT publish a printed catalogue or list. Our inventory turns over far too quickly. We have several thousand ancient Bibles in stock, and we sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth every MONTH! Any printed catalogue would be out of date before it came off the press. The website, (which shows a good representative sampling of less than 5% of our total inventory), will give you a good general idea of how vast our selection is, and the approximate price range of most types of items. Call us once you have a general idea of what you might want, and we will discuss your options with you.

Do you have a copy of the 1872 or 1927 edition of...
NO. With the exception of our facsimile reproductions, we only sell items that were printed MORE THAN 200 YEARS AGO. We only buy and sell Bibles from the 1700's, 1600's, 1500's, 1400's and 1300's. Also, we do not sell antique Bibles or books that cost less than $1,000. In fact, nearly all the Bibles we sell are over $3,500.

Could you help me find an out-of-print Bible published by Holman or Thomas Nelson or Zondervan (or some other modern-day publisher)?
Again, please carefully read the answer to the question above. We ONLY deal in ANCIENT Bibles that were printed MORE THAN 200 YEARS AGO, which tend to be fairly expensive. Also, we cannot “refer you to another dealer” who might have that type of material, because NOBODY in the world specializes in Bibles that are “old and out-of-print, but not ancient and really expensive.” There is virtually no market for that, (thus, no profit), so nobody specializes in that. Try contacting the publisher for advice on out-of-print Bibles. That's just NOT what we do.

Where can I go to have my old Bible repaired or rebound?
Check your local Yellow Pages Telephone Directory under the heading "BOOKBINDERS".

Where do you GET these ancient Bibles that you sell?
We acquire our inventory from many sources including: museums, seminaries, private galleries, large estate sales, Sotheby’s & Christie’s, English country book fairs, other rare book dealers, insurance companies, antiquity brokers, our own customers, and people who find our website and have a Bible they wish to sell us.

Why don't you also offer more affordable Bibles ($15 to $75) like you can easily find in any of the many Christian Bookstores across America?
Because you can easily find them at any of the many Christian Bookstores across America. We are NOT a bookstore; we are the world's largest Biblical Antiquities Dealer. Lamborghini Dealers don't usually sell Fords and Chevy’s, either :)

Where are you, and do you have a "Store Front" location that I can visit?
All Bibles are stored in our Bible Museum & Showroom in the Phoenix, Arizona area. We are happy to give directions to our facility upon request. Our showroom is open to the public 24-hours-a-day, but purchases can be made only on an individual appointment basis. You can see photos of our showroom on the Company History & Showroom page. Our Director of Marketing handles all questions, advertising, and website sales from our Lake Mary, Florida marketing office (ten miles North of Orlando, FL), but NO BOOKS are kept at that address.

Why would you tear apart some of your Bibles to sell them by the individual leaf?
WE DO NOT! We only sell leaves from Bibles that were already missing MANY pages when we acquired them. For more details, see the side-note on the Overview of Our Bible Leaves page.

What exactly is a “facsimile reproduction” of an ancient Bible?
We suggest that you read our Overview of our Facsimiles page for more details.

Do you offer a "money-back-guarantee"?
Yes, of course. Your satisfaction is unconditionally guaranteed with ANY Bible, leaf, or book purchased. Simply call us or email us within not more than ONE WEEK of receiving your order and ask for our return shipping address and return authorization. You will receive a 100% refund as soon as we get the returned package. Please note that after one week from the date you receive your order, all sales become FINAL. We do also, however, offer a LIFETIME (no time limit) guaranteed 100% dollar-for-dollar buyback for store credit on any ancient Bible purchased… so you know your Bible will never go down in value. Try to find another rare book dealer willing to make you that offer! We stand behind what we sell.

What methods of payment do you accept?
We accept ALL major credit cards on orders up to ten thousand dollars. We accept Money Orders and Bank Cashier's Checks on ANY size order. Wire Funds Transfer is also acceptable. The only thing we do NOT accept is Personal Checks (and of course, subway tokens, food stamps, small pebbles, livestock, and most garden vegetables, including legumes and squash). We have, on occasion, been known to barter and trade one rare Bible for another one… or to accept a rare Bible as partial payment for a more expensive rare Bible.

How can we be sure that an ancient Bible is a genuine original, and not some kind of “counterfeit” made to look ancient?
Actually that sort of thing simply does not happen. In the 16 years we have been in this business, we have never once heard of any dealer, anywhere, trying to pass off a “fake” as an antiquarian Bible. They simply cannot be counterfeited in such a way that would fool even the most naïve of people. One cannot manufacture “aged” rag cotton linen sheets, nor convincingly duplicate the irregular and uneven appearance of print from an ancient moveable-type press. To even attempt to do so, and do it well, would cost more money than all but the most expensive of the genuine originals would be worth… so there is no incentive. Much like ancient gold coins or classic automobiles, this is an arena in which “fakes” have simply never been convincingly attempted by anyone.

True, we sell “facsimile reproductions” ourselves on this website… but they are merely a photographic imaging that is100% identical to the textual appearance of the originals for study purposes. They do not have the physical structure, “feel”, patina, or aged qualities of the real thing. Even most children would know instantly that they are not real. Of course, the brand-new paper, flawless appearance, and the ISBN number and copyright date in the front might give it away too!

Think about it: if I show you a high-quality $50 poster of a Rembrandt or Monet painting… it looks photographically 100% identical to the original for study purposes, but it does not have the brush strokes, or cracking paint on canvas, or “feel” of an ancient original. Anyone would know instantly is was not real.

As soon as you hold one of our genuine original ancient Bibles in your hands, you will see why this is simply not an issue. Nevertheless, we are happy to provide you with a Certificate of Authenticity for any Bible purchased, and such certificates come automatically with any Bible Leaf purchased. If you still have questions or concerns about this, just contact us any time, and be sure to review our References page.

How quickly will I get my order and what are your shipping charges?
Orders for Bible leaves and facsimiles are typically processed within a day or two, and then shipped by FED EX 2 to 3 business-day air. If you need it even faster than that (my… you are in a hurry), just ask about guaranteed overnight shipping at a very small additional fee. Ancient Bibles are shipped within 24-hours via FED EX Overnight at no charge to you for shipping. Orders over $200 are shipped FREE OF CHARGE anywhere in the USA. Orders under $200 cost $12 to ship. We cannot ship to Post Office Boxes, because we use FED EX for all our shipping. International shipping rates are discussed at the bottom of the CONTACT US page.

Do you own this material, or are you just brokering it?
We own it all. It is our in-house inventory. On rare occasion, we will go outside of our own inventory to locate a special request for a customer, but that is not necessary 95% of the time. We have tens of millions of dollars worth of rare Bibles and ancient theology books in stock.

Is this a "profit-driven" company, or a "charitable organization"?
We are not a non-profit organization (we have mouths to feed). A very significant portion of our profits, however, do go to fund the distribution of Bibles around the world to missionaries and those who need a Bible. Much of the rest of the profit goes back into the business for acquiring and restoring ancient Bibles to preserve them for future generations. You may wish to read the article written about us in the Arizona Republic for more details.

"Isn't it wrong to profit from the sale of God's Word?"
(It is truly sad that anyone would actually hold such a delusional view, or ask such an offensive question... yet people continue to ask it.) Think about it: Don't you pay your Pastor a salary? Don't Bible publishers make a profit? Doesn't your local Christian Bookstore make a profit? Did you know that a large portion of our profits have enabled us to GIVE AWAY MILLIONS OF BIBLES to missionaries around the world?

Ha! I assume by your reply above that you have your share of “mixed nuts” that call you?
Oh my… we sure do! If you are in the mood for a good laugh, be sure to visit our official GREATSITE.COM “Phone Call Hall of Shame” to read the transcripts of some of our most frustrating calls.

How is the "market price" of these rare Bibles established? Am I getting a "good deal"?
When pricing Bibles, we generally use the price we PAID as well as the last auction-house price of similar material as guidelines for determining an appropriate price level. Being the dominant force in the rare Bible market, our prices actually tend to "set the pace" for the world market to some extent. Those who collect stamps, coins, baseball cards, and comic books have objective publications they can turn to for pricing guidelines because millions of people are active collectors of that material. Even those who collect “modern firsts” books (a first edition of 20th century classics like “Gone with the Wind”, etc.) have a objective publication called “Book Prices Realized” that they can turn to for pricing guidelines. Because there are “only” several thousand people who collect ancient Bibles, our market does not have such objective pricing guideline publications. Admittedly, the rare Bible market is a small “niche” market, but our company is the primary “market maker”, and we have a reputation for high quality, vast selection, and very reasonable prices for over 16 years.

So, you mean that you really don't have any "competitors"?
Well, that depends on how you define "competitor". If you mean "Is there anyone else who moves even 10 % of the quantity of antiquarian Bibles that you do?"...the answer is NO. If you think there are many people who sell this material, I invite you to grab your local Yellow Pages Phone Directory and call ALL the used book dealers, and ask how many have even ONE Bible in stock that is over 200 years old. I doubt that you will find even ONE! They are THAT SCARCE and they are bought-up immediately when found. We sell more rare and antique Bibles than all the other rare book dealers in the world COMBINED. Our position in this small market has been one of “nearly a monopoly” for a decade and a half.

I'd love to have a complete four-century-old English Bible... perhaps an early King James or early Geneva Bible... bound in full leather, as a display item and family heirloom. I've got a little less than $4,500 to spend on it, though... is it possible for me to get a nice one on such a limited budget?
Yes, you certainly can. Check out our Antique Bible Buyer's Guide Page for details.

What is the single biggest obstacle… the most frequently occurring problem… that STOPS an otherwise very enthusiastic customer from collecting your more expensive ancient Bibles?
You are going to be shocked by my answer. The “money” is the issue only about 20% of the time, because most of the people collecting Bibles over $10,000 each are fairly well-off and they consider it an investment. What stops them the other 80% of the time? Believe it or not, it is nearly always the same thing: their wife!

The majority of our customers who purchase our most expensive items are men who are successful business owners and have become Christians later in life. Most of the time, these men are married to women who are either not Christians, or if they are Christians… they simply don’t share their husband’s deep passion for the Word of God. They do, however, hold great influence over their husband. I have to smile when I hear men speak with such false bravado about how they “make all the decisions” and how they are the “head of the family”. Someone once said, “the man may be the head of the family, but the woman is the neck… and the neck turns the head!” It is so very true.

You would not believe how frequently we have long-standing customers call us and say that not only do they have to stop collecting the ancient Bibles that they love so dearly… (that were to be a great part of their children’s inheritance, and that have already doubled in value in the past five years)… but they are also being forced to sell every Bible they have immediately! What would cause this, you ask? Are they being sued or has there been a family tragedy? No. Each time, they sheepishly tell me the same thing… “Well, my wife says I can’t spend any more money on Bibles, and she is angry every time she looks at my collection, and she says I have to sell them all right now.”

This is not an isolated incident… we see it happen all the time. It is the single biggest obstacle in our business. What is the moral to this story? It is two-fold: First; if you are not married, obey the teachings of the Lord and only marry a believer who shares your passion for the Word of God. Second; if it is too late for you to take that advice, at least discuss your desire to collect ancient Bibles with your wife before you begin, so she does not feel resentful of your collection.

Our most satisfied customers are often couples who share a passion for collecting God’s Word… and it draws them closer to each other as they pursue it together. A house divided against itself cannot stand (Mark 3:25).

You use the terms "folio" and "quarto" and "octavo" frequently... what do these terms mean?
They refer to the size of a book or Bible in terms of how many times the original sheets were folded and cut to fit into the binding. If folded once, the result is the largest of books, a "folio". A large pulpit Bible for example, is always a folio. If folded again (and cut, of course, to allow all pages to open), the result is a "quarto". Over 90% of all books on the shelves at your local bookstore today are “quartos” measuring approximately 9 by 6 inches… give or take an inch. Did you ever notice that the vast majority of books are about the same height? If folded and cut again, you have an "octavo" book, like a small purse-bible. Even smaller books are called "12mo" and "16mo", etc.

I'd like to learn more about the famous historical printings of the Bible in the English language. Where can I learn more?
You can start by reviewing our English Bible History Page. This should give you a detailed foundational knowledge of the subject, and help you to decide what items you would like to have in your personal collection.