Even The Best Writers Make Mistakes
We shouldn’t feel too bad about our mistakes, (which for me are plentiful, I go back to correct more than a few articles after I see them published.) Some of our best known writers made mistakes in our favorite classics, and we probably never noticed the errors. It doesn’t hurt my enjoyment at all. These are just a few of the errors found in our classical reading.
Some of our most famous writers did not check their facts. Embarrassing mistakes ( or they should have been) were made by Shakespeare, Daniel Defoe, John Keats and many others. The most well known guffaws follow.
In “Hamlet,” Shakespeare writes of Elsinore’s “beetling cliffs.” Elsinore has no cliffs.
In “Julius Caesar,” Shakespeare refers to a clock that strikes the hour, 1,400 years before it was invented.
Shakespeare calls Delphi an island in “Coriolanus,” it’s a city.
Crusoe swam without clothes to a wrecked ship, finds some biscuits and puts them in his pocket, in Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe.”
In ” On first looking into Chapman’s Homer” Keats speaks of Cortez’s discovering the Pacific Ocean. He didn’t. Balboa did.
In Leo Tolstoy’s, “War and Peace,” Natasha is seventeen years old in 1805 and twenty four in 1809, aging seven years in four. Another mistake in the same story, Prince Andrei’s icon inexplicably changes in the novel from silver to gold.
In Sir Canon Doyle’s, “A Study in Scarlet” Sherlock Holmes’s assistant, Dr. Watson is said to have suffered a wartime bullet wound in the shoulder, but in ” The Sign of Four,” The wound is said to be in the leg.
In “Ivanhoe,” by Sir Walter Scott, one character has two different first names, At one point, Malvosin’s first name is Richard, another time it’s Philip.
In Vergil’s, “Aeneid” Chorinaeus and Numa die, and later reappear without any mention of their deaths.
In “Don Quixote” written by Miguel de Cervantes, Sancho Panza sells his donkey, then is seen riding him again with no explanation given. Later Sancho loses his wallet, only to be shown using it again, no explanation given.
The most embarrassing error of all was made in London in 1631. An authorized edition of the bible was published that caused a huge commotion. After it came off the presses, it was found to have left the word “not” out. It told the reader,”Thou shalt commit adultery.”
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Thank God for spell check! I still miss mistakes sometimes, too. I remember reading about that blunder in the Bible. That run of Bibles came to be known as the “Wicked Bible.” Printing was in its infancy back than, and the type was set one tiny letter at a time. There was an average of one typo per ten pages in the very first pressing of the KJV.
Interesting topic. I had a good laugh when I saw the last mistake.
I really like this, Ruby. I remember reading an article about the “Wicked Bible” and proof-reading back then, as is now, was difficult at best. It is amazing the number of errors that can be found in any given novel. My own published novel has several errors that I have discovered since its first printing and I proofread it several times and edited and re-edited and the same was done by the publishing house but since its publishing I have found not less than eight errors, none of which take away from the story but they are there. I really enjoyed your article. Great share.
I always go back and edit my articles several times. I catch my own mistakes. The last line is funny. “Thou shalt commit adultery!”
Hi, Ruby…What an awesome post. This makes me feel much better about my mistakes. I loved the one about Crusoe…LOL…I am surprised that many have not argued which version of the Bible was to be original. Thank you for sharing this.
What an interesting article Ruby. I have never noticed any of those mistakes, yet have read most of the above mentioned. Which goes to show if we’re reading for the general meaning of the story and enjoying what we read, it doesn’t matter all that much. You’ll have us all running to check our writing now.
mistakes are never made intentionally. we need to accept it as a part of the writing. thanks for presenting a new subject to think.
Ruby,
Great article. You make me glad I re-read everything I write. Oh the countless mistakes I’ve had to correct.
Randy
Great post.
As important as spelling and grammar are for good writing, accuracy is essential too, as you have pointed out. Add to this mix the importance of ‘flow’ in thought and ideas.
Yes, yes yes to this, spell check is a life saver and insightfulness is too, a well reserched topic almost always gets good hits, but we shouldn’t feel bad about our errors, just rectify them immediately.
This just tells us Ruby that we are all human being subject to commit errors and mistakes.
Such anachronisms are quite common in literature – even more so in movies and Television programmes – but you are right when you say that they don’t always spoil the enjoyment.
On the subject of the last one, and as Karen alluded to, there were many mistakes in the Bible in the 17th century. A while ago I wrote a list of 10 mistakes in the Bible, fortunately they soon fixed them.
It is good to realize and correct , i like it
Nice Article
Definitely we do make mistakes and don’t often see it an excellent article with a true point to many writers
Yap I go with you. Know body is above mistakes! Sure!!!
That is why writer needs editor. Mistake is human.
cool
Interesting :p
Great post, Ruby. I try to check everything I write, but sometimes mistakes still get by me, now I don’t feel so bad, and after reading your article, I really will be checking
I always make mistakes and then have to go back and edit. Good write as usual.
Very interesing, I feel better about my own writing mistakes already
)
I make plenty of mistakes too. It is good to know famous writers make mistakes too. At least I am in good company. LOL!
I take heart in this as I found two errors in my book after if was published. I remember reading a book by a well known author and she was talking to John the nurse of her boyfriend Steve who was in a coma then she was talking to Steve about Steve being in a coma. I had to read it several times to realize it was an error. We all make mistakes as you said.
Fascinating stuff. Thanks.
Fascinating stuff. Makes me feel better about the goofball mistakes I make. Thanks.
They happen to the best of us, sometimes they are funny
Thank God for the edit button.
As a child I had an uncle who was an editor. He used to pay my sister and I a quarter for every error we could find in the paper. That was fun.
Great article Ruby, it’s good to know others make mistakes too.
This article is really entertaining
Everyone makes mistakes. It is mistakes that makes us learn even more. Good topic.
Nice article. The last error has made everyone laugh.
I always enjoy to read my articles after I finish with the first draft. Always lot of funyn errors and mistakes – good article!
Frequent editor here as well. We’re only human…in every sense of the word.
I need this kind of motivation for myself and others too.
Great topic:)
Hopefully, we all learn from our mistakes.
Thanks, enjoyed this article!
Lol i like the one from Robinson Crusoe. You will be surprised at how many errors are made in classic films aswell.
Wow, if that Bible mistake had been in these days, you would’ve seen Leno doing it on Headlines!
Very interesting. Confirms that nobody is perfect.
Nice reminder that we are all human and imperfect in when writing. Spell check does help with spellling errors but it is those others that will crop up from time to time that we do not catch that label us human.
An ever-so-true statement if ever there was one! lol I think everyone will admit to having made mistakes, typos, consistency errors, etcetera. I’m usually pretty good with spelling, but I tend to mess up on my -ei- and -ie- words. I eventually got so frustrated at that fact that I have stuck a sheet of paper right under my computer with all such words, so that I’m not making a mistake when writing believe and achieve. (Yes, I just looked to make sure. lol)
I put my articles through a series of checks but often, once they are published, I spot errors I missed in the online editor. I think this has to do with our brain “filling in the blanks” and tricking our eyes.
It is a better practice to write your articles in Word and check them there. An additional benefit is that you then have a back-up copy of your article. You don’t have to go back to your article later and copy it.
For writers who have lost of published articles, this is a godsend because their articles are their revenue source. Making a copy before you even publish saves you time later.
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brilliant and saved it really witty article.
brilliant and saved it really witty article. enjoyed