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IN 1801, I PUBLISHED a quarto edition of the Bible, (of three thousand copies,) with various additional references, for which I paid a clergyman one thousand dollars. Price ten dollars.
I had eighteen various editions to collate in the reading of the proof sheets,—four London, three Cambridge, three Oxford, six Edinburgh, and two American,—those of Isaac Collins and Isaiah Thomas,— and found a most extraordinary number of discrepancies, some of which are incredible. In one Edinburgh edition, published by Mark and Charles Kerr, 1795, among the prohibitions of incestuous marriages, one was—"A man may not marry his wife's mother's brother."
Feeling deeply solicitous for the success of this undertaking, the failure of which would have almost ruined me, and fearful lest some captious hypercritic should discover any errors, which might have escaped me, notwithstanding all the care I had taken in reading the proof-sheets, I prefixed to the volume a deprecatory advertisement, of which I annex some extracts.
"I present this edition of the Bible to the public, with a degree of solicitude proportioned to the magnitude of the undertaking. Having embarked therein a large property, and devoted my utmost care and attention to it, from its commencement to its completion, I find it impossible to assume that degree of stoicism necessary to regard with indifference its reception by my fellow-citizens.
"That a rigorous and severe spirit of criticism may discover grounds of censure with respect to the paper, printing, engraving, &c. &c. is, I think, highly probable. It is a very easy matter to find fault. A poor sciolist, whose circle of sciences extends no farther than the Grammatical Institute, may discern that there is a want of uniformity in the paper,—that the printing is far inferior to Baskerville's—that the engravings are not equal to those by Bartolozzi, or Heath,—that there are typographical errors in the work,—and, to show his taste and sagacity, may make various other objections. And when I consider the malignant pleasure many feel, in depreciating the labors, and counteracting the well-founded hopes, of others, I freely confess, I am disposed to approach the bar of the public with some awe and apprehension.
"But, from men of this obliquity of heart, I most cheerfully avert my eye. I turn to those of liberal minds—who find more pleasure in bestowing praise, than in dealing forth censure,—who are as eager to discover merit, as the envious and malicious are to decry it,—who are fully conscious of, and willing to make allowance for, human imperfection,—who, knowing the infant state of the arts among us, do not expect that degree of elegance and beauty, for which older and more opulent nations afford such encouragement. When I look forward to a jury of such men, sitting in judgement on this volume, I feel my spirits revive.
"That this work is wholly free from inaccuracy, I cannot pretend. In fact, I will venture to say, that no work, equally voluminous, ever was so. But that there are no material errors in it, and that it is as correct as those Bibles which are brought into this country from London, Cambridge, Oxford, and Edinburgh, I fondly believe. To remove any incredulity on this subject, and to induce the reader to forgive the few trivial errors which have escaped the vigilance of the correctors of the press, I annex a small number of errata, out of hundreds which I might have selected, from different British editions.
ERRATA CORRECT READING "His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she ashes." Job i. 3. (1) "His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses." "And magnified with own accord thine hand that fought for them." Wisdom x. 20. (2) "And magnified with one accord thine hand which fought for them." "Were beneath and above." Baruch ii. 5. (3) "Were beneath and not above." "These are the statutes between the father and his daughter, being yet in her father's house." Numb. xxx. 16. (4) "These are the statutes between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth, in her father's house." "Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray for you." Gen. xl. 8. (5) "Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you." "He with him whom it is found, shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless." Gen. xliv. 10. (6) "He with whom it is found, shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless. "Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an everflowing flood, and shall overflow the land." Jer. xlvii. 2. (7) "Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land." "Thou shalt not build me an house to well in." 1 Chron. xvii. 4. (8) "Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in." "The whole land of Havilab, whore there is gold." Gen. ii. 11. (9) "The whole land of Havilab, where there is gold." "So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that oweth this girdle." Acts xxi. 11. (10) "So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle."
{(1) Edinburgh Quarto, 1734. (2) London Folio, 1696. (3) Oxford Quarto, 1784. (4) Edinburgh common Quarto, 1728. (5) Oxford Quarto, 1784. (6) Cambridge Quarto, 1769, and 1770. (7) London Folio, 1696. (8) London Quarto, 1708. (9) London Quarto. 1782, (10) London Folio, 1691.}
"As the proof-sheets were compared with different editions, a discovery was early made, that numerous and very important variations existed between them.
"It was found that in many instances, the Oxford and Cambridge editions agreed; that they differed from the Edinburgh and London; in others, that the London and Cambridge agreed, and differed from the Oxford and Edinburgh; in others, again, that the Edinburgh varied from all the rest. This occasioned considerable difficulty. In every case, recourse was had to as many copies as could be procured, and that reading was uniformly preferred, which was sanctioned by the most numerous and best authorities, or which appeared most congruous with the context.
"One or two examples will suffice to illustrate the plan pursued, which has been the result of the most mature deliberation, and which, I hope, will meet the approbation of the public.
"In all the Oxford, Cambridge, London, Trenton, and Worcester editions, Luke xxiii. 32, reads thus:—
"And there were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death.
"But five respectable Edinburgh copies read,—
"And there were also two others, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
"This reading was readily preferred. It was impossible that the apostle, in speaking of his beloved Master, should have styled him a malefactor, which is the only construction whereof the first reading is susceptible. Had one of Pilate's soldiers been writing on the subject, he would have expressed himself thus. The Greek, καὶ ἕτεροι δύο, κακῦργοι, with a comma after δύο, admits the Edinburgh construction as perfectly correct.**
[[**St. Luke, the author of the Greek, or perhaps a scribe who, if Luke himself did not write, reduced Luke's words to writing, almost certainly wrote in Uncial script [all capital letters] without using any punctuation, including the comma. Any punctuation appearing in texts available to Mr. Carey, or in those authorities he consults, is mere editorial device of subsequent translators, copyists, or editors, and thus represents only the subjective understanding of the text by whoever caused it to be set in type. That the unnamed Greek edition of the Gospel of Luke contains a comma in a place that supports Mr. Carey's interpretation of the text is not relevant to the resolution of the meaning of the phrase. However, his analysis of the words of the text, in context, constitutes the best available way to arrive at its meaning.]]
"It is to be further observed, that the Latin translation of Junius and Tremellius favors this reading,—"Ducebantur autem etiam alii duo, iique iacinorosi, cum eo, interimendi." Edit. in-fol. Hanoviae, 1623.
"As I have touched on the subject of variations, I beg the readers attention, while I treat on it a little more at length.
"The variations are of five kinds. 1st. Of Punctuation; 2d. Of Orthography; 3d. Where words are in one edition in Italic, as suppletory, and in Roman in another, as if they were in the original; 4th. Where the difference is merely verbal, without affecting the sense; and 5th. Where there is a variation not only in the words, but in the sense.
"I. Variations in Punctuation.
The variations of this class are innumerable; generally, however, they are unimportant. As far as I have been able to observe, there is no edition whatever of the Bible that has an uniform system of punctuation. The same sentence, occurring in different places, in the same Bible, is by no means always punctuated in the same manner.
"I shall mention but one example of variation of this class. Gen. xxvi. 8. has eight commas in the Edinburgh, six in the Oxford, and only three in the Cambridge and London editions.
"II. Orthographical Variations.
"These are not so numerous as the former; but they are by no means inconsiderable. Among those that attracted most attention, in the progress of the work, were—besides, beside; towards, toward; among, amongst; values, valleys; champian, champaign; subtil, subtile; divers, diverse; aught, ought; born, borne, &c. &c.
"Diverse and divers are miserably confounded together. They appear to be regarded as synonymous, which is an egregious error. Divers signifies many—diverse, different.
"III. Variations with respect to Suppletory Verbs.
"Those who have ever paid attention to the perusal of the Bible, know that there are numberless instances wherein words, which are well understood, but not expressed, in the original, are introduced in the English translation; all such words are generally, in the correct editions, in the Italic character, by which the reader is given to understand that they are suppletory; in most instances, the sense is complete without them. Thus,
"And they wrote letters by them after this manner. Acts xv. 23. (1) Is in the Original Greek,
"And they wrote by them after this manner." Which conveys the same idea as the former line.
"IV. Verbal variations, which do not affect the sense.
"The variations of this class are incredibly numerous: and it is to be observed, that even the editions printed at any of the before-mentioned places, do not agree with each other. I subjoin some examples for the readers' inspection:—
[[** Mr. Carey's first example was not printed in the New-England Magazine text.]] "And Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear." Lev. viii. 24. (2) "And Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ears." "And all that have not fins and scales in the sea." Lev. xi. 10. (3) "And all that have not fins nor scales in the sea." "And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nations which I cast out before you." Lev. xx. 23 (4) "And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation which I cast out before you." (1) Edinburgh Quarto, 1695. (2) Edinburgh 1728 and 1790. (3) Oxford Quarto, 1784. (4) Edinburgh, 1789, 1793, and 1795.}
"V. Variations of meaning as well as words.
These variations are by no means numerous. Some of them, doubtless, have arisen from the carelessness of the printers, who published the early editions, and have been servilely copied by successive editors; but others have most probably been the result of the liberty taken by editors, of innovating upon the original translation, executed in the time of King James.
"To illustrate this idea, I shall select two examples. In many editions of the Bible, Lev. i. 6, reads—
" 'And he shall slay the burnt offering.'
"In other editions it is—
" 'And he shall flay the burnt offering.'
It is obvious that the similarity between fl and sl may have led one editor into error; and that in subsequent editions the error may have been repeated.
"But we cannot in the same way account for the following variation:—
"In the Oxford quarto editions of 1784 and 1795, and the Cambridge of 1769 and 1770, Psalm cvii. 16, reads -
" 'For he bath broken the gates of brass, and cut the gates of iron asunder.'
"Whereas in nearly all the other editions it stands—
" 'For he bath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.'
"In the Cambridge Quartos of 1769 and 1770, the Octavo of 1767, and the London Quarto of 1772, Leviticus vii. 13, stands—
" 'Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering unleavened bread.'
"Whereas in fourteen other editions which have been consulted it is—
" 'Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread.'
"It is highly probable, that leavened bread is the correct reading; as the marginal reference from this verse is to Amos iv. 5, which I here submit to the reader:
" 'And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, 0 children of Israel.' "
Soon after the publication of this edition, the success of which fully equaled my most sanguine expectations, I ventured on the publication of a standing edition** of the Quarto Bible, a great undertaking for a man not long in business, of whose means a large portion was absorbed in dead stock. It was the first standing edition of the English Quarto Bible, ever published. The Scotch, who had a most extensive sale for their Bibles, were wont, as I have been credibly informed, to set up about twenty or thirty sheets, and print off twenty thousand copies—then distribute the types, and set up as many more. Until lately, I believed that mine was the first standing Bible in Christendom. But I have recently learned that of Luther's Bible, in the German, a quarto, and perhaps a folio edition, had been standing in some part of Germany for probably a century.
[[** "Standing edition" refers to a book whose type is retained in its setting braces in anticipation of the printing of future editions.]]
About the time when I had the Quarto Bible set up, I purchased of Hugh Gaine, of New-York, the School Bible, for, as far as I can recollect, seven thousand dollars; and nearly simultaneously purchased a large house in Market-street, where I lived above twenty years. I need not say that these enterprizes, which were extremely imprudent, greatly increased my embarrassments, insomuch that in the course of a year or two, I sought to part with the house and Bible at first cost, although the former was actually at that time worth thirty per cent. more than I had given for it. The latter I offered to Messrs. Thomas & Andrews, who fortunately declined the purchase, and no purchaser offered for the house.
In 1802, I was elected by the Senate of the state, a Director of the Bank of Pennsylvania, which afforded considerable facility for meeting my engagements. My debts rose extravagantly high, and when I was superseded, as was the case in 1805, I was treated with great lenity by the Directors, who allowed my notes to run on, without curtailment, for six or eight months. At length they sent me word, that some reduction, as much as I found convenient, would be required. With this requisition I complied.
While I was in the direction, the Bank of Philadelphia was established without a charter. And the Directors of the Bank of Pennsylvania, who supposed, from the phraseology of their charter, that it excluded, like the charter of the Bank of the United States, the establishment of any rival institution, memorialized the Legislature against the application for a charter, and appointed the state Directors a committee to attend to the subject. My colleagues, five in number, accepted the appointment; but I refused. I happened to be at the time in Lancaster, the seat of government, when I received notice of the duty imposed upon me by the stockholder Directors. I wrote them word that I could not consent to act under it, as the citizens who had united to establish the Bank of Philadelphia, were precisely in the same predicament as those who had a few years before assembled, without a previous charter, to establish the Bank of Pennsylvania. Both parties had an equal right in the case—as there was no law forbidding such an association. I added that I would cheerfully act as a member of a committee to memorialize the Legislature to pass an act imposing a penalty on individuals who might in future establish a bank without having previously procured a charter. This plan did not suit the views of the Board, by whom my refusal to act was very ill received. It was a bold measure, as my engagements at that bank were so high, that it could have stopped me in two weeks.
The proceeding was illiberal, and produced a severe punishment. The influence of the Bank of Pennsylvania, in which the government held stock to the amount of one million of dollars, was so great, that the application of its rival was likely to fail of success; so that the new institution was obliged to propitiate the Legislature, by an offer of a bonus of one hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars. This bribe, or douceur, or bonus, as it was termed, bore down all the difficulties that had blackened their prospects previously, and a charter was readily accorded. The Legislature, after having tasted the sweets of this bribe, imposed a heavy contribution on the Bank of Pennsylvania, when, on the expiration of its charter, it applied for a renewal, and on all the banks subsequently incorporated.
While in this station of Director, a laughable circumstance occurred, which, though of little importance, I cannot refrain from narrating. Major Jackson, when dismissed from office, set up a newspaper, the United States Gazette. Michael Keppele, one of the Directors, brought to the Board, the day before its first appearance, an impression of two pages, to show us how very handsome the Gazette was, so far as regarded types, paper, and printing. Among the advertisements was one of a number of gallons of brandy, rum, or whisky, I do not recollect which. The n was turned upside down, and the word intended to be "gallons," read "gallous." "Perhaps," says Clement Stocker, a man of some humor, "he means gallowses for the democrats." "Perhaps he does," I replied, "but he and you ought to remember a certain right honorable aristocrat of ancient times, who erected a gallows sixty cubits high, for a poor devil of a democrat, and was hanged thereon himself." This turned the laugh against Stocker, and closed his oratory for that sitting.
M. Carey.
Philadelphia, Feb. 5, 1834.
