Lambton Musings LAMBTON’S HISTORY AND HERITAGE NEWSLETTER – SPRING 2025 www.heritagelambton.ca
The Rumford Family Bible David McLean, Forest Museum
Family Bibles have long played a significant role in preserving family histories. These large, often elaborately bound books served not only spiritual needs, but also as repositories for vital personal records. Our museum collection has a number of Bibles once owned by local families. Prior to the invention of the moveable-type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the 1400s, Bibles were hand printed, mostly by monks in monasteries. These Bibles were, as you might expect, very expensive and few outside the upper church hierarchy and the nobility could afford them. Thanks to Gutenberg’s invention, the Bible could be mass produced and therefore became much more affordable. The implications for European society were profound. Literacy rates rose dramatically and the wider availability of Bibles meant that “the word of God” could now be accessed directly by more people. It was no coincidence that the Reformation began in this time period as religious dogma and doctrine were challenged by new interpretations of biblical text. For families who acquired one, their Bible, as mentioned above, primarily served their spiritual needs. In the age before compulsory public education, a family’s Bible also provided a means for teaching children how to read. Another practical use for the family