Bible printed in 1705 discovered in Iowa retirement home

DES MOINES, Iowa — The owner of an Iowa bookstore discovered what is easily the oldest book in the state -- a 318-year-old Bible from Scotland.

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Kathy Magruder, who runs Pageturners Bookstore in Indianola, was sifting through the library of a retirement home in Des Moines when she found the ancient relic, KCCI-TV reported.

Magruder, whose store sells new, used, vintage and antique books, was hoping to stock up on used titles when she visited the library at the Calvin Community retirement home, according to the television station.

What she found was startling.

The leather-bound Bible was plain, but immediately caught Magruder’s eye.

“There were a lot of older books which were fun, and I chose those, but I saw this on a shelf,” Magruder told the Indianola Independent Advocate. “It doesn’t look like anything special. I said, ‘You know, I think that one is kind of old. … I’m going to have to research that one because I can’t even make an offer until I have some idea what it is.’”

Magruder wrote down the title and began studying it. She determined that the Bible was printed in 1705 in Selkirkshire, Scotland, KCCI reported.

That was 141 years before Iowa was admitted as a state to the Union.

The book was also printed illegally. That was a crime punishable by death, Magruder said.

Magruder said she also found a family history in the middle of the Bible and written in ink, the Independent Advocate reported.

The ink was smudged in places and the paper was yellowed, but Magruder was able to determine that James Burnet married Janet Scott in 1761 and had three daughters, according to the newspaper.

The family tree was documented into the 19th century, and that led Magruder to do some digging.

“So, I went online and started doing some research … and fell down a rabbit hole,” Magruder told the Independent Advocate. “Way down.”

While Magruder was able to determine the origin of the Bible, one mystery remained -- how did it get to Iowa, and who owned it?

Genealogy reports and records at the retirement home did not shed any light on the riddle, KCCI reported.

“How did it get here?” Magruder told the Independent Advocate. “They didn’t have anyone named Dunlap or Burnet, so it passed down through the family somewhere and ended up in Iowa at some point.”

Magruder said she intends to sell the book at some point -- but not until she does more research.

One of the names in the Bible -- Gideona Burnet, the daughter of James and Janet Burnet -- married a man named Archibald Dunlap in 1798. Magruder said that her research led to an online family tree connected to Gideona Burnet Dunlap, according to the newspaper.

And that is thrilling.

“I can place it in a particular place at a particular time with a particular family,” Magruder told the Independent Advocate, “which is really kind of exciting.”