A family who discovered an early 20th-century French bible inscribed with touching handwritten messages near an Edinburgh tram stop while on holiday in the capital say they are desperate to reunite the book with its original owner.
Gemma Stott, 33, was stunned when she opened the velvet bound religious text plucked off a set of railings by stepson Elliot Nellist at Balgreen Road to discover a collection of personalised letter, newspaper clippings and telegrams dating back centuries within.
The missives, written as far back as 1904, are all in French bar one note sent to Bournemouth in 1962, which bears a message in English.
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However they give little clue as to the origin of the book, which appears to have been passed down through generations of one family, before it was picked up by curious Elliott, eight.
Gemma, from South Shields, is now determined the “sentimental” keepsake is returned to its rightful owner after being abandoned on the street.
She told Edinburgh Live: “We were just walking down the street on the way to the Zoo when Elliott picked it up.
“We thought it looked really old, so I thumbed through it when we got back and it looks like it has been passed on through the generations.
“There are all these little intricate notes and messages. Most of them are in French and some of them mention people by name. Then there are postcards, telegrams, little passages that have been picked out.
“It would just be really lovely to get it back to the family.”
The book is covered with a “velvet-style” case and has the initials ‘P.J’ on the cover - which appear to stand for the name ‘Pierette Juillard’.
Inside, paraphernalia includes a cross-shaped bookmark, dating from 1904, notes written on squared paper and a newspaper letter quoting the French pastor Charles Wagner dating from November 1927.
The last dated message was apparently written in 1964, according to one pen mark.
In the English telegram, the recipient, named Esther, is encouraged to read Peter chapter five, verse seven with “loving thoughts”.
That passage reads: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Gemma said the book felt like it had been “well loved” but has been stumped by any clues as to where it came from.
“It seems very well looked after. It has a velvet-type casing on it and the P and J initials on the front have been stitched on,” she said.
“Inside is all in French. There are handwritten testaments in it, which all end with ‘amen’ and then a set of initials.
“The original owner who was gifted it has the surname Evans and the name on one of the notes is also Evans.”
Gemma and family are set to return home to Hebburn on Thursday, but plan to take the bible with them in the hope relatives of the original owner will get in touch.
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However, she added tracking down the owner of the bible would also be a beautiful memory of her first trip away with partner Gavin Nellist, stepsons Elliott and Charlie and daughter, Havana-Lacey Tryers.
She said: “It is obviously extremely sentimental, the family are clearly very religious.
“Everything inside has gone down through the generations and it’s like looking at a family through time.”
Gemma added: “For me and my partner and my kids, it would just be a really nice thing to get it back to the owner and a really lovely memory of our time in Edinburgh.”
