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A treasured personal Bible owned by Elvis Presley has been sold at auction in the US. The Bible was on Elvis’s nightstand the night he died in 1977 at the age of 42. It is a simple black book with his name embossed across the bottom of the cover and includes bookmarked pages and underlined verses.
Online bidding for the Holy Bible (World Edition) which started at A$45,000 reached A$180,000 for which it was sold to an anonymous buyer.
The Bible included a letter from his cousin Patsy Presley which reads: “Shortly after Elvis’ passing my Uncle Vernon (Elvis’s dad) and I went up into Elvis’ bedroom at Graceland to organize and pack many of his personal belongings. This Holy Bible was one of three that Elvis had on his night table. After packing them, Uncle Vernon had me take them home for safe keeping and eventually gave them to me.”
The front cover had Elvis Aaron Presley embossed in gold across the bottom. The inner content contained a “large amount of bookmarked pages and underlined passages that seemingly spoke to Elvis,” according to Kruse GWS Auctions.
Among the verses highlighted by Elvis is Job 31:24-26: If I have made gold my hope, Or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; If I beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in brightness (KJV).
Elvis also highlighted Genesis 1:31: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day (KJV).
He pointed out Isaiah 29:19: The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel (KJV).
Crosswalk Headlines reports Elvis’s Christian faith played a key role in his life and was a focus of the 2022 film Elvis, which depicts him late in his life demanding that TV executives allow him to sing Gospel music during a special. He won a Grammy Award for a live performance of How Great Thou Art.
“It is well known that Elvis was an avid reader and a deeply spiritual man. Of all of Elvis’s Bibles sold over the years, this particular book has a truly touching story and fantastic provenance,” said GWS Auctions.
Another of Elvis’s bibles sold in a UK auction for around A$150,000 in 2012.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
