Handwritten road trip Bible sells for $15,000

The Bible that was handwritten by Americans across the United States was sold on eBay for more than $15,000 (just over £9,000) last weekend.

Zondervan collected $15, 407.53 from the sales of one of the two Bible copies from the cross-country road trip earlier this year called Bible Across America. The special project was in honour of the 30th anniversary of the New International Version – the most popular modern-English Bible translation.

More than 31,000 different people representing all 50 states and several countries contributed a handwritten verse for each of the Bible Across America copy. The, 22,579-mile journey stopped in 90 cities and took nine months to complete.

The original Bible Across America features three leather-bound volumes that contain 2,200 pages of handwritten verses on 11 x 17 pages.

Proceeds from the eBay sale will go to Biblica, formerly known as the International Bible Society, which translates and distributes Bibles. Meanwhile Zondervan plans to donate the second handwritten copy to a museum.

“Our goal is to raise as much money as we can to support the great work of Biblica, while also helping the original manuscript find a cherished home," said Chip Brown, Zondervan's senior vice president and publisher of Bibles, in a statement a few days before the end of the eBay auction.

"Whoever ends up winning the auction will not only be helping a great cause in Biblica, but will also be the owner of a truly one-of-a-kind keepsake item that will forever stand as a symbol of the love people across the country have for God's Word," he said.

The printed version of Bible Across America, which includes the scans of the handwritten verses, will go on sale December 1.

Zondervan is the world’s leading Bible publisher and holds the exclusive North American publishing rights to the New International Version, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2008.