In 1978, the University of Texas in Austin forked over more than $2 million for a two volume copy of the Gutenberg Bible. Less than 10 years later, a Japanese company representative won a bidding war on another Gutenberg Bible, even though this one only contained part of the Old Testament. He ponied up a cool $5.4 million. Talk about inflation.

Gutenberg Bibles, the first books printed using movable type, are particularly rare; fewer than 50 copies are known to exist. Bibles, in general, are not rare, however. More Bibles have been printed and distributed throughout the world than any other book.

Many of us have dozens of books in our homes, including a Bible or two.

For our ancestors, books were much more scarce. When my ancestor Jesse Martin died in 1820, the inventory of his estate included four books: a dictionary, an arithmetic book, a hymnbook and a Bible.

A family Bible can hold a bounty of information for genealogists. Many Bibles have special pages for recording births, deaths, and marriages, and some of our ancestors diligently filled in the blanks.

Some family scribes scribbled other interesting tidbits onto the thin Bible pages in addition to the vital events. Edgar Allan Poe's family Bible, for example, includes a list of people buried in the family burial plot, identifying which person is buried in which grave.

Some Bibles have letters or other important papers stuck between the pages.

So, where can you find family Bibles? First, ask all your relatives if they have any old Bibles that have been handed down. If you find any, either photocopy the data or simply write it down for your records.

Hunt for Bibles in library and historical society collections near where your ancestors lived. The International Society of Bible Collectors lists repositories with major Bible collections on its Web site: biblecollectors.org/bible_collections.htm.

The Daughters of the American Revolution have an online index that shows thousands of names found in family Bibles. Search the Genealogical Records Committee index on their Web site: grc.dar.org/dar/darnet/grc/grc.cfm.

The National Genealogical Society (ngsgenealogy.org) is actively collecting photocopies or transcriptions of old Bible records and loading the images and data onto their Web site. You must be a member, however, to access the records - just one of the many perks of membership in this society.

Also, check out Bible Records Online (biblerecords.com). This Web site, devoted to digitizing and transcribing Bible records, has data from more than 1,100 Bibles online.

When you find a family Bible, check the publication date. In my family, an old German Bible has an 1850 publication date, but some of the handwritten entries chronicle events that occurred before that date. So, some of the data was recorded years after the fact.

Be on the lookout for inaccuracies, misspellings and flat out fabrications. You'd think that people recording information in a Bible would feel compelled to be honest, but many marriage and birth dates were conveniently altered. You can guess why.

If you have an old family Bible, consider storing it in a special archival box.