Home › Curiosities of Literature › Book of Blunders.-London Instiutions
Book of Blunders.-London Instiutions
BOOK OF BLUNDERS. - One of the most egregious, shall we add illustrious, of all literary blunders, is that of the edition of the Vulgate, by Sixtus V. His holiness carefully superintended every sheet as it passed through the press; and, to the amazement of the world, the work remained without a rivalit swarmed with errata! A multitude of scraps were printed, to paste over the erroneous passages, in order to give the true text. The book makes a whimsical appearance with these pasted corrections; and the heretics exulted in the demonstration of papal infallibility! The copies were called in, and violent attempts made to suppress it; however, a few still remain for the pursuit of biblical collectors: at a late sale, the Bible of Sixtus V. fetched above sixty guineas-a tolerable sum for a mere book of blunders! The world was highly amused at the bull of the Pope and editor prefixed to the first volume, which excommunicates all printers, &c. who in reprinting the work should make any alteration in the text!
Curious account of THE MEANS OF INTELLECTUAL IM- PROVEMENT IN LONDON. -The following is an estimate made of the means of intellectual improvement in London.
There are four hundred and seven places of public worship; four thousand and fifty seminaries for education, including two hundred and thirty-seven parish charity schools; eight societies for the express purpose of promoting good morals; twelve societies for promoting the learned, the useful, and the polite arts; one hundred and twenty-two asylums and alms -houses for the helpless and indigent, including the Philanthropic Society for reclaiming criminal children; thirty hospitals and dispensaries for sick and lame, and for the delivery of poor pregnant women; seven hundred friendly or benefit societies; about thirty institutions for charitable and humane purposes ; about thirty institutions for teaching some thousands of poor children the arts of reading, writing, and arithmetic, on the plans of Mr. Lancaster and Dr. Bell; and these several establishments, including the poor's rate, are supported at the almost incredible cost of one million per annum.