“The Wicked Bible”
“The Wicked Bible”
BIB.003885
Bible - Printed Book
1631
England
English
Printed on Paper
6.9 × 4.9 × 2.4 in. (17.5 × 12.4 × 6 cm)
On View in The History of the Bible, The King James Bible
Printing the Bible with movable type on an early modern press was a remarkably difficult task. As the “King’s Printer,” Robert Barker held the exclusive right to print all English Bibles, including the King James Bible, but his early editions were marred by poor quality and typographical errors. His 1631 King James Bible omitted the critical word “not” in Exodus 20:14, leading to the unfortunate exhortation, “Thou shalt commit adultery.” Barker was fined for the error and most copies of this edition were either corrected or destroyed. This is a rare uncorrected copy.
Printed in 1631 by Robert Barker, London, England. Acquired in the seventeenth century by the Lunnis family, unknown owners.[1] Acquired by 1719 by John Sowter, unknown owner.[2] Acquired by Craig Lampe of The Bible Museum, Goodyear, Arizona;[3] Purchased by Andrew Stimer, private collector, Camarillo, California;[4] Privately purchased in 2014 by Green Collection, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Donated in 2015 to National Christian Foundation (later The Signatry), under the curatorial care of Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.
Notes [1] Inscriptions on a blank page at the end of the New Testament record the baptism dates of numerous members of the Lunnis family. The first four names and dates appear in the same hand and were clearly recorded retroactively. The final name and date appear in a different hand and different ink, with a date seven years after the penultimate entry. It has not been possible to identify this family with certainty. [2] An inscription written over the earlier inscriptions from the Lunnis family reads, “John Sowter his booke March 16 1719.” It has not been possible to identify this individual with certainty. [3] Written correspondence from Craig Lampe and Andrew Stimer indicates that this Bible was in Lampe’s collection as early as the 1970s, but no specific date is available. [4] Written correspondence from Craig Lampe and Andrew Stimer indicates that Stimer purchased this Bible from Lampe between 1988 and 2014.
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