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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Roosevelt Family Dutch Bible
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Roosevelt Family Dutch Bible

Artifact IDMO 1942.99.3
Object Type Bible
Maker
Date1686
Mediumpaper, leather, metal
Dimensionsclosed H 5 1/2 in x W 11 1/4 in x D 16 1/2 in (14 cm x 28.6 cm x 41.9 cm )
Physical DescriptionA Dutch Bible folio with leather binding and metal clasps. The title page is missing. Family birth and death records are attached to the end papers, which are laminated to the inside of the front and back covers. The center of the front and back leather covers are pressed with a diamond shaped design.

Formerly placed within the pages were a small piece of folded paper with handwritten text in Dutch, a newspaper clipping with "The Poet's Corner," and estate sale classifieds [all now stored separately].
Historical NoteOn March 4, 1933, FDR took the oath of office as President of the United States on this Roosevelt family Bible—opened to a verse in St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians: “And now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” Roosevelt used this Bible at all four of his presidential inaugurations. It was printed in Amsterdam in 1686 and is the oldest of the known presidential inaugural Bibles. It is also the only extant inaugural Bible in a modern foreign language. This Bible is on display in the INAUGURATION DAY exhibit in the Museum’s THE PROMISE OF CHANGE gallery.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteLent to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum by Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 2, 1941. It was donated as a bequest of FDR to the Library in 1947.
Credit LineEstate of Franklin D. Roosevelt
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesPersonal Possessions of the Roosevelt Family (National Archives Identifier 782689)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
In Collection(s)
On view
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