Rare Bible copy found in New Zealand

A copy of an extremely rare Bible, dubbed the ., has been discovered in New Zealand wicked bible and also known as Adulterers Bible or Sinners Bible† The nickname is the result of a printing error, as in 1631 two English printers did not use the word (or Nope) omitted from the Seventh Commandment. Accordingly, these copies of the Bible read as follows: You will commit adultery† Specimen was in relatively poor condition when rediscovered. It has also suffered water damage and is missing both the cover and some pages on the back.

The error comes from the printers Robert Barker and Martin-Lucas cost them dearly, as he disgraced them by the Anglican king Karl I (1600 –1649) of Scotland, England and Ireland. He took them to court and ordered the destruction of the thousands of printed copies. The judge sentenced them for outrageous mistake and sloppy finish† He also imposed heavy fines on them and took the license of the two printers.

Presumably only about 20 copies survived the destruction. They were offered for sale to collectors in Britain or the United States. According to University of Canterbury this is the first time a specimen has surfaced in New Zealand. It remains a mystery how this specimen made its way around the worldrecount Chris Jones, associate professor of medieval studies. According to him, the copy first appeared in an estate sale in 2016. The deceased owner was bookbinder Don Hampshire, who emigrated from the UK to New Zealand in the late 1950s. He died in 2009 in Christchurch. But we did not know that he was in possession of one of the rare copies. Other known examples are in Canada, the United States, Great Britain and Ireland, where Dublin has a very fine example.

To this day, the question remains open whether or not the printers deliberately forgot the word “no”. According to one lingering story, the error was made on purpose and the result of early “industrial sabotage” by a rival printer. But the most common explanation is that printers, who have been in fierce competition with other printers, have cut back on hiring a qualified editor.

Source: The Guardian