Still The Most Published Book

Book publishing is changing every day. If you're an indie author, you're also a publisher. That's a heavy mantle to assume in light of the history of book publishing which one could conceivably say is a history of civilization.

The most published book in the world is still the Bible despite what some Harry Potter fans may think. Here are some more interesting facts about the Bible.

1. Johannes Gutenberg (spelled correctly here) was the first European to produce a book printed with movable type. (Books printed using movable type were produced in China more than 500 years before Gutenberg.) Gutenberg’s first book was The Bible.

2. The shortest verse in the Bible consists of two words. "Jesus wept." (John 11:35)

3. Several early English Bibles are famous because of their errors, not their workmanship or beauty. The textual idiosyncrasies have made certain Bibles eagerly sought by collectors.

4. The Breeches Bible, 1560, states that Adam and Eve "sewed fix tree leaves together and made themselves breeches."

5. The Bug Bible, 1551, incorrectly translated the 91st Psalm ("Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night.") as "Thou shalt not be afraid of any buggies by night."

6. The Treacle Bible, 1568, used the word treacle (a dark brown very sweet sugar syrup) instead of balm in the verse: "Is there no balm in Gilead?"

A rose may be a rose, but "Is there no treacle in Gilead?" certainly loses the mellifluous sound to the ear, that poetic quality that makes a line memorable -- for the right reasons.

Takeaway Truth

There's a reason successful publishers always used human proofreaders.