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Odds and quads - 8 August 2013

<ÍøÆØÃÅ class="standfirst">This 400-year-old Bible is probably the most infamous of the rare religious books and manuscripts held in the University of Leicester¡¯s Robjohns Collection
August 8, 2013

It was the cause of?great controversy in 17th-century Britain ¨C all?thanks to a single typo that seemingly encouraged infidelity.

This is the ¡°Wicked Bible¡± of 1631, so called because the printers omitted the word ¡°not¡± in the Seventh Commandment so that it reads: ¡°Thou shalt commit adultery¡±. The?offending passage, from Exodus 20:14, is pictured.

The book was co-published by Robert Barker, printer of the first edition of the King James Bible. As one of the royal printers, the mistake drew the attention and scorn of Charles I (pictured) and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Barker and fellow publisher Martin Lucas were heavily fined and all?1,000 copies of the?Wicked Bible were ordered to be destroyed.

It is thought that only a small number remain in?existence, including this example at Leicester.

Send suggestions for this series on the treasures, oddities and curiosities owned by universities across the world to matthew.reisz@tsleducation.com

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