P067 Peculiar Bibles.

P067 Peculiar Bibles.

Archbishop Laud having informed King Charles I. of this serious blunder, the king directed that the whole edition of one thousand copies be called in, and the printers fined three hundred pounds. The fine, or a part of it, was appropriated to the purchase of a font of Greek type, to be used for such purposes as the Government might direct.

There are said to be only four copies of this unique volume now in existence.

Strange to say, exactly one hundred years after this, in 1731, a German Bible was printed in Halle, containing the same error, so that there is a German "Wicked Bible," as well as an English one.

Copies of these rare, remarkable, and remarkably wicked Bibles may be seen, side by side, in the Lenox Library, New York.

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XVII.

SPECIMENS OF THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS.

1. The Durham Book, about 950. See page 17.

We give the Lord’s Prayer from this book:(1)

Fader uren thu arth in heofnum, sie gehalgud noma thin; to cymeth ric thin; sie willo thin suæls in heofne & in eortho; hlaf userne ofer wistlie sel us todsæg: & forgef us scylda usna suæ uæ forgefon scyldgum usum: & ne inlæd usih in eostunge uh gefrig usich from yfle.

2. The Ormulum, about 1225. See page 18.

John i, 35-37.

Thæraffterr onn an otherr dagg [day] Stod Sannt Johan Bapptisste, Tweggen [two] stodenn thær withth himm Off hise Leorninngenihhtess, [disciples] He sahh ure Laferrd [Lord] than, And seggde [said] thuss withth worde;

Loc here, thiss iss Godess Lamb.

Ta [those] twa Leorninngenihhtess, Herrdenn [heard] thatt word, and gedenn [went] forth Affterrwarrd [behind] ure Laferrd.(2)

------------ (FN1)Cited by Stoughton, p. 14 (FN2)White’s Ormulum, Vol. 2, p.88.

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