Vinegar Bible

 V for Vinegar Bible (A-Z Blogging Challenge)
 
Pretend, just for the sake of this blog post,  that fame offers the ideal, perfect life.  It doesn't, we know, but remember that we are just pretending. Also pretend that you love attention and being noticed, and that you feel that being famous  would somehow validate your worth as a human.

What would you do to be famous?

Would you swallow swords?
Go on American Idol?
Give away millions of dollars?
Write a book?
Would you be willing to handle poisonous snakes?
Hire a publicist who could create something newsworthy about you or what you do?
Train to be an Olympic champion?
Shave your head and paint it with colorful polka dots?
Run for president?
Have twenty children?
Grow a third leg?
Make a mistake?

Have you heard of the Vinegar Bible?  It gets its name and fame from, yes,  a mistake!

The Vinegar Bible was printed in 1717 by John Baskett in Oxford at the Clarendon Press.  It has a mistake in the chapter heading for Luke 20.  It should read,  "The Parable of the Vineyard," but instead it reads,  "The Parable of the Vinegar."  (photo by Crystal Craig, Dreamstime.com)

The story is told of Rev. Robert Vincent, an Anglican missionary assigned to the St. John's Church fishing village.  He owned a Lunenburg Vinegar Bible.

Vincent died young, and his widow sold the Bible to Nova Scotia's governor (Michael Francklin) in 1766.  It is believed the Bible stayed in Francklin's family for several generations.

Somehow the Bible showed up at Cambridge University about 20 years ago.  It contained notes written by Francklin and the births and deaths of family members.

And so 236 years later, 2008, the Bible returned "home."