The Theft of the Vinegar Bible

Typos happen. When they crop up in a newspaper headline, they’re good for a laugh. When they show up in the Bible, things get more lucrative. This story begins in 1717 with an English typesetter who had a momentary lapse of concentration. John Baskett of Oxford (or possibly one of his assistants) was setting the parable of the vineyard in the 20^th chapter of Luke but soured the text by titling the passage “The Parable of the Vinegar,” instead. Baskett wasn’t the first or last publisher to flub a line in the good book. The previous year, a Bible was released that mangled the call in Jeremiah to “sin no more,” encouraging readers to “sin on more” instead. A 1763 edition misprinted Psalm 14:1 to read “the fool hath said in his heart there is a God.” But perhaps the worst of the bunch is the so called “Wicked Bible” from 1653 which drops a fairly important word from Exodus 20:14, rendering the seventh commandment “Thou shalt commit adultery.” To a certain subset of book collectors, these misprinted Bibles (known as bible errata) are irresistible. Queen Caroline, consort of King George II, may have been one of them. In 1732, she presented several gifts to the newly founded Anglican church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Amongst them was a Vinegar Bible.

The relic has been cherished by the congregation of St. John’s Episcopal Church ever since and during the 20^th century the book has been kept prominently on display. This proved too tempting for a band of thieves in 1970 who snatched the Bible one summer day when the church was open to tourists. Five months later the church’s rector, Rev. W. Charles Hodgins, received a phone call. The thieves, perhaps upon discovering that the black market trade in pilfered Bibles was not as brisk as they had previously assumed, attempted to ransom the Bible back to St. John’s. It was one of only four copies of the Vinegar Bible known to exist. Surely they could get something for it. The reverend disappointed them. “The Church does not finance crime and vandalism,” he told them. The negotiation ended at that. Shortly thereafter the thieves sent Father Hodgins a key belonging to a locker at the Long Island railroad station. The Vinegar Bible was discovered safely within. Apparently the Bible was just too much trouble and the thieves decided to cut their losses. Today, visitors can once again see the Vinegar Bible on display at St. John’s. It sits in a glass case on the balcony, open to the page with the typo that has made it famous. The small lock on the case seems little defense for such a rare book, but the church leaders don’t seem worried. The Bible found it’s way home once before; clearly it’s where it’s meant to be.