Rare Bibles up for auction
I once came across this famous Japanese quote that said, ‘everyone makes mistakes. That’s why there is an eraser on every pencil.’ However, sometimes mistakes are worth a lot. I am referring to bible errors here. These error have led some bibles to be known for their mistakes such as the so-called wicked bible which has an omitted a crucial “not” in one of the commandments, turning it into “thou shalt commit adultery.” Other biblical typos are far less inflammatory but even the mistake of a minor word or two can make a certain Bible printing distinctive. Upcoming auctions of rare and important Bibles at Swann Galleries this fall offer several of these expensive curiosities.
Swann Galleries is holding two sales one on September 17 and one on October 20 that will feature Bibles from the collection of Mel and Julie Meadows. The Meadows collection will be auctioned off in two parts, the American examples in September and English Bibles and other religious texts in October. The Meadows collected important editions of the Bible in English. Among their treasures were the 1781-82 Aitken Bible, the first complete Bible in English printed in America and the only Bible ever authorized by Congress. Fewer than 100 copies are known to exist and it is estimated at $40,000 to $60,000.
But about those typographical errors, one Bible, the 1613-11 second edition of the King James version is known as the “She” Bible because of the reading “she” instead of “he” in Ruth 3:15. It is estimated at $10,000 to $15,000. Another Bible with a typographical variation is the “Vinegar Bible,” Oxford, 1717-16, which contains the word “vinegar” instead of “vineyard” in Luke 20, among other misprints. It is estimated at $3,000 to $5,000. More information is available on the sales through the Swann Galleries website.
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