LONDON, Oct 22 — Typos are the bane of any writer’s existence, but imagine if you lived in the 17th century and it involved a religious text that eventually would leave you destitute and shunned by society.
On November 11, however, Bonhams auction house in London is hoping that what once proved a costly mistake for unwitting publishers will be a windfall almost 400 years later.
The lot in question is an “infamous and extremely scarce” bible printed in 1631 that is also known as the “Wicked Bible”.
An unfortunate error in the text leaves out the word “not” from the seventh commandment.
This means that amid exhortations that “thou shalt not kill”, and “thou shalt not steale”, readers are also informed that “thou shalt commit adultery”.
According to The Guardian, 1,000 copies of the text were printed, and the typo was only discovered a year later.
The entire print run was recalled and the majority destroyed, but it is said around 10 copies that slipped through the net still exist today.
Bonhams has put an asking price of £10,000 (RM66,300) to £15,000 on the bible ahead of its sale date, The Guardian added.
