Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 October 1898 — The Largest Bible. [ARTICLE]

The Largest Bible.

In 1857 Mlndon-min, King of Burma, erected a monument near Mandalay, called the Kutho-daw. Then he buih 700 temples, in each of which there Is a slab of white marble. Upon these 700 slabs is engraved the whole of the Buddhist Bible, a vast literature in Itself, equal to about six copies of the Holy Scriptures. This marble Bible is engraved in the Pali language, thought to be that spoken by Buddha himself 500 B. O. Photographs of some of the inscriptions have reached England, and Professor Max Muller—perhaps the greatest linguist in the world—has examined them. But, alas for all this human ingenuity and perseverance! If his majesty, Mln-don-min, thought to perpetuate the teachings of the Great Buddah by causing it to be graven on the rock, he nourished a vain ambition. The climate of Burma is moist, and its effects have already wrought havoc on the surface of the white marble, and the photographs show a partinl effacement of some of the Burmese characters in which the Pall text is engraved. This is certainly the largest known copy of any portion of literature. Even the National Encyclopedia of China, in 5,000 volumes, occupies a comparatively small space. To reach the other end of the limits of the printers' and engravers’ art we need only remember the “Smallest Bible in the World,” and the diamond editions of Catullus, Tibullus and Propertius. To ehgrave the Bible of Buddha on the marble slabs in the temples of Kuthodaw must have cost many thousands of dollars, but these sermons in stone are easily outclassed by a copy of the New Testament, which, beautifully printed, can be bought for 25 cents, and if carefully cherished will last many generations.—Boston Traveler.