Hutchinson gazette., 1901-07-04
THE DIDLr AND A MYSTERY.


Nv UAiuhus
II is fairly we'll known, says the
Golden Penny, that the Universities Of
oxford and Cambridge, having paid
100000 toward the cost OF publication,
are joint owners of the copyright OF
the revised version. Tho copyrights
tho authorized version and OF the
Book OF Common Prayer, however, are
vested In the crown, and authority to
print them In England Is given by
patent TO the kings printers, and by
charter to the Universities of Oxford
and Cambridge. There is, probably,
not another printing press in the
world which Issues 80 many copies Of
the Bible as that Of Oxford univer-
slty, where the famous India paper, a
quarter of century ago, revolution
iezd both the bible and the prayer
book trade.
0xford's answer TO the question
whether the circulation OF the Bible Is
decreasing Is emphatlcally; mo"
The output averages about million
complete copies every year, apart
from New Testaments, separate por-
tlons and Welsh Bibles. Justly proud
of their printing, the authorities Of
the press make q standing offer Of
guinea to anyone who first points out
q printers error In any edition Of the
authorized version, and as there are
over seventy editions of the Oxford
Bible altogether, 1t is sufficient testi-
mony TO the excellence Of the work to
say that the bill for these errors--the
errors themselves being usually of the
most trivial character rarely
amounts to more than two or three
gulneas a year. There are a few OBJ
solete words In the Bible, however
''astonled," for example-which are a
constant source Of trouble on this ac-
count, raising false hopes in the
breasts Of many O would-be winner OF
the guinea reward, and involving cor
respondence with applicants from all
over the world.
Today the Bible, in all It's stages, 10
produced by the best workmanship In
the trade, and under the most watch
full care 1t Is possible to provide. The
remark is equally true Of each Of the
three great houses from which we get
our Bibles. The oxford press is re-
markable from the fact that 1t not
pnly prints It's books, but manufac-
lures Its own paper, makes 1t own
type for some fifty or sixty languages,
maintains It's own bindery-where
the skins of at least 100000 animals
are annually prepared for Bibles alone
and, in short, docs everything con-
nected with the work from start to
finish. The oxford type foundry Is
interesting, as being the Oldest estab-
llshment OF Its kind in England.
The Oxford India paper Is, OF
course, Of recent date, although Its
original, hidden among the many
other secrets of the mysterious East,
may date back to an indefinite age.
Only three persons at time are per-
mitted to know the process OF its
manufacture at the university mills,
ut Wolvercote, each workman being
allowed to understand only one stagt
Of the process. The story OF its in
PRODUCTION has been told before, but 1t
is worth retelllng. Sixty years ago
an Oxford graduate, newly home from
India, presented the University press
with a small fold Of remarkably thin,
yet perfectly opaque paper, In 1874 Q
serious attempt was made to manu-
facture a similar paper. The prellT.
inary experiments at the Wolvercots
mills failed but out Of these failures
presently came complete success, the
first fruits Of which took the form OF
an edition Of the Bible, similar in oil
respects to the limited number OF
copies printed thirty-three years be-
fore on the graduates fold Of paper
from India. This was In August, 1875,
and 30 great was the demand for the
new edition that in. few weeks a
quarter Of a million copies had been
sold Nowadays the Oxford India pa
per Is employed for hundreds Of diff
ferent works and editions, yet 1t re-
mains As much mystery as ever.
Make Yourself comfortable by getting