Geneva Bible sale for £20k 'pleasant surprise for seller'

A 400-year-old Bible taken to the New World by the founder of a Massachusetts town has sold for £20,000 at an east Belfast auction.

It sold above its £5,000 to £10,000 valuation by Bloomfield Auctions on Tuesday.

Printed in 1615, it was taken to what is now the United States by Elizabeth Pole in 1633.

The Geneva Bible was the first mechanically printed, mass-produced Bible available to the public.

The Bible sold as part of a private collection from a gentleman's residence and was one of 389 lots that went under the hammer.

Auctioneer Karl Bennett said it was a pleasant surprise for the seller, who had not realised how significant it was.

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