The Wicked Bible

W is for The Wicked Bible (A-Z Blogging Challenge)

Whatever would make a Bible wicked?  Well, here's the story!

In 1631, two printers in London, Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, printed a reproduction of the King James Bible.  Unknown to them, there was one typographical error in the Book of Exodus that made a very serious difference!

It involved the Ten Commandments.  The translation of the seventh commandment should have read, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." The word not was left out, so it read, "Thou shalt commit adultery."  Of course this caused a stir among the religious people, since it appeared that the Bible was giving a command to commit adultery.

When England's King Charles I and the Archbishop of Canterbury heard about the error, a special investigation was held.  As it turned out, Barker and Lucas were ordered to pay a fine the amount of a month's salary.  They were also ordered to give up their publishing license.

The Bible with the error was given the name, Wicked Bible, also sometimes known as the Adulterous Bible, or Sinners Bible.  The king ordered the copies of the Wicked Bible be burned.

Somehow, at least eleven copies of it survived and are extremely valuable with collectors of rare books.  One copy is the New York City Library.  Another copy is on display in a Bible museum in Branson, Missouri.  It is thought that other copies of the Wicked Bible are owned by private collectors.  January 17, 2011, a copy went on display at Cambridge University.  Reportedly there is one Wicked Bible for sale now at a rare and antique Bible website.  It is selling for $89,500.
Article Source:  Wikipedia

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."