Thou Shalt Commit Adultery
Posted by Erich Shelton on Monday, January 16, 2012 Under: Humour
Bob Barker, a.k.a. Robert Barker to those who are not so close to him, was a printer to James the first of England and printer to Queen Elizabeth the first. He was in fact, the printer of the King James Bible, the only version that some say assure your eternal salvation. However, Mr. Barker either had a sense of humor or a mistress on the side and released another version which were eventually confiscated and burned. Only 11 of these remain in print somewhere today. It has been labelled by some as the "Wicked Bible" and it is all due to an accident or the omission of one little curious word—"not".
The Wicked Bible, The Adulterous Bible, or the Sinners' Bible (depending upon who you speak with) was published in 1631 by Bob and his mate Martin Lucas, both royal printers in London. It was intended to be a reprint of the King James Bible.
As a result of this careless mistake, which anyone could have made, about a year later when it was discovered the pair were fined £300 (or roughly $51,700 today) and they had their printer license revoked. The fact that this edition of the Bible contained such a flagrant mistake outraged Charles l of England and George Abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury. They obviously had no sense of humor! They are quoted as saying:
I knew the tyme when great care was had about printing, the Bibles especially, good compositors and the best correctors were gotten being grave and learned men, the paper and the letter rare, and faire every way of the beste, but now the paper is nought, the composers boyes, and the correctors unlearned.
But here is my question. If indeed only 11 copies remain mysteriously in print somewhere, why is it that adultery statistics are so high around the world? Surely people are getting pirated copies of their own. I have searched online for a copy but can't find one. If anyone knows how to obtain a copy of this, please let me know. I want to follow the written word and ALL of the commandments, even if some ancient King and Archbishop didn't get the joke.
I prefer not to call it the Wicked Bible because all of God's word is inspired by Him. I vote changing the name to "The Lucky Bible." What do you think?
The Wicked Bible, The Adulterous Bible, or the Sinners' Bible (depending upon who you speak with) was published in 1631 by Bob and his mate Martin Lucas, both royal printers in London. It was intended to be a reprint of the King James Bible.
As a result of this careless mistake, which anyone could have made, about a year later when it was discovered the pair were fined £300 (or roughly $51,700 today) and they had their printer license revoked. The fact that this edition of the Bible contained such a flagrant mistake outraged Charles l of England and George Abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury. They obviously had no sense of humor! They are quoted as saying:
I knew the tyme when great care was had about printing, the Bibles especially, good compositors and the best correctors were gotten being grave and learned men, the paper and the letter rare, and faire every way of the beste, but now the paper is nought, the composers boyes, and the correctors unlearned.
But here is my question. If indeed only 11 copies remain mysteriously in print somewhere, why is it that adultery statistics are so high around the world? Surely people are getting pirated copies of their own. I have searched online for a copy but can't find one. If anyone knows how to obtain a copy of this, please let me know. I want to follow the written word and ALL of the commandments, even if some ancient King and Archbishop didn't get the joke.
I prefer not to call it the Wicked Bible because all of God's word is inspired by Him. I vote changing the name to "The Lucky Bible." What do you think?
In : Humour
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I am a retired adjunct professor from the University of Southern Indiana, located in Evansville.
My favourite subjects to teach are obviously ‘Typography’ as well as ‘Graphic Design History’, 'Senior Seminar' and ‘Computer Illustration.’