Scholar's Geneva Bibles to be sold

MEMPHIS, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A Shakespeare scholar's collection of Geneva Bibles is to be divided between the University of Tennessee and the Folger Library in Washington, his family says.

Naseeb Shaheen, who died Sept. 26, taught at the University of Memphis for 40 years. His brother, Shouky Shaheen of Atlanta, told the Memphis Commercial-Appeal Naseeb wanted most of his collection to stay in Tennessee and knew the University of Memphis did not have the means to buy and care for the bibles.

The Geneva Bible was named because Geneva, Switzerland, became a refuge for Protestants during the reign of Queen Mary I of England. It was the Bible William Shakespeare and his contemporaries would have known because the King James Version, which relied heavily on the Geneva Bible, was not finished until 1611, after Shakespeare had written most of his plays.

Shaheen, a prolific scholar, spent 23 years compiling the Biblical references in Shakespeare's work.

Shouky Shaheen said his brother left about 115 Bibles, valued at $2,000 to $15,000 each. About 75 will go to the university and the rest to the Folger, the country's major collection of Shakespearian documents. The proceeds are to be used at a third university, Birzeit near Ramallah, the family's hometown in the West Bank.