document_title: King James Version

question_text: who introduced the authorised version of the bible

question_tokens: who introduced the authorised version of the bible

text: King James Version

text: Name[edit]

text: The title of the first edition of the translation, in Early Modern English, was "THE HOLY BIBLE, Conteyning the Old Teſtament, AND THE NEW: Newly Tranſlated out of the Originall tongues: & with the former Tranſlations diligently compared and reuiſed, by his Maiesties ſpeciall Comandement". The title page carries the words "Appointed to be read in Churches",[11] and F. F. Bruce suggests it was "probably authorised by order in council" but no record of the authorisation survives "because the Privy Council registers from 1600 to 1613 were destroyed by fire in January 1618/19".[12]

text: For many years it was common not to give the translation any specific name. In his Leviathan of 1651, Thomas Hobbes referred to it as the English Translation made in the beginning of the Reign of King James.[13] A 1761 "Brief Account of the various Translations of the Bible into English" refers to the 1611 version merely as a new, compleat, and more accurate Translation, despite referring to the Great Bible by its name, and despite using the name "Rhemish Testament" for the Douay-Rheims Bible version.[14] Similarly, a "History of England", whose fifth edition was published in 1775, writes merely that [a] new translation of the Bible, viz., that now in Use, was begun in 1607, and published in 1611.[15]

text: King James's Bible is used as the name for the 1611 translation (on a par with the "Genevan Bible" or the "Rhemish Testament") in Charles Butler's Horae Biblicae (first published 1797).[16] Other works from the early 19th century confirm the widespread use of this name on both sides of the Atlantic: it is found both in a "Historical sketch of the English translations of the Bible" published in Massachusetts in 1815,[17] and in an English publication from 1818, which explicitly states that the 1611 version is "generally known by the name of King James's Bible".[18] This name was also found as King James' Bible (without the final "s"): for example in a book review from 1811.[19] The phrase "King James's Bible" is used as far back as 1715, although in this case it is not clear whether this is a name or merely a description.[20]

text: The use of Authorized Version or Authorised Version, capitalized and used as a name, is found as early as 1814.[21] For some time before this, descriptive phrases such as "our present, and only publicly authorised version" (1783),[22] "our Authorised version" (1792),[23] and "the authorized version" (1801, uncapitalized)[24] are found. The Oxford English Dictionary records a usage in 1824.[25] In Britain, the 1611 translation is generally known as the "Authorised Version" today.

text: As early as 1814, we find King James' version, evidently a descriptive phrase, being used.[26] "The King James Version" is found, unequivocally used as a name, in a letter from 1855.[27] The next year King James Bible, with no possessive, appears as a name in a Scottish source.[28] In the United States, the "1611 translation" (actually editions following the standard text of 1769, see below) is generally known as the King James Version today.

text: History[edit]

text: Earlier English translations[edit]

text: The followers of John Wycliffe undertook the first complete English translations of the Christian scriptures in the 14th century. These translations were banned in 1409 due to their association with the Lollards.[29] The Wycliffe Bible pre-dated the printing press but was circulated very widely in manuscript form, often inscribed with a date earlier than 1409 to avoid the legal ban. As the text translated in the various versions of the Wycliffe Bible was the Latin Vulgate, and as it contained no heterodox readings, there was in practice no way by which the ecclesiastical authorities could distinguish the banned version; consequently many Catholic commentators of the 15th and 16th centuries (such as Thomas More) took these manuscript English Bibles to represent an anonymous earlier orthodox translation.

text: In 1525, William Tyndale, an English contemporary of Martin Luther, undertook a translation of the New Testament.[30] Tyndale's translation was the first printed Bible in English. Over the next ten years, Tyndale revised his New Testament in the light of rapidly advancing biblical scholarship, and embarked on a translation of the Old Testament.[31] Despite some controversial translation choices, and in spite of Tyndale's execution on charges of heresy for having made the translated bible, the merits of Tyndale's work and prose style made his translation the ultimate basis for all subsequent renditions into Early Modern English.[32] With these translations lightly edited and adapted by Myles Coverdale, in 1539, Tyndale's New Testament and his incomplete work on the Old Testament became the basis for the Great Bible. This was the first "authorised version" issued by the Church of England during the reign of King Henry VIII.[3] When Mary I succeeded to the throne in 1553, she returned the Church of England to the communion of the Roman Catholic faith and many English religious reformers fled the country,[33] some establishing an English-speaking colony at Geneva. Under the leadership of John Calvin, Geneva became the chief international centre of Reformed Protestantism and Latin biblical scholarship.[34]

text: These English expatriates undertook a translation that became known as the Geneva Bible.[35] This translation, dated to 1560, was a revision of Tyndale's Bible and the Great Bible on the basis of the original languages.[36] Soon after Elizabeth I took the throne in 1558, the flaws of both the Great Bible and the Geneva Bible (namely, that the Geneva Bible did not "conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and its beliefs about an ordained clergy") became painfully apparent.[37] In 1568, the Church of England responded with the Bishops' Bible, a revision of the Great Bible in the light of the Geneva version.[38] While officially approved, this new version failed to displace the Geneva translation as the most popular English Bible of the age – in part because the full Bible was only printed in lectern editions of prodigious size and at a cost of several pounds.[39] Accordingly, Elizabethan lay people overwhelmingly read the Bible in the Geneva Version – small editions were available at a relatively low cost. At the same time, there was a substantial clandestine importation of the rival Douay – Rheims New Testament of 1582, undertaken by exiled Roman Catholics. This translation, though still derived from Tyndale, claimed to represent the text of the Latin Vulgate.[40]

text: In May 1601, King James VI of Scotland attended the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland at St Columba's Church in Burntisland, Fife, at which proposals were put forward for a new translation of the Bible into English.[41] Two years later, he ascended to the throne of England as King James I of England.[42]

text: Considerations for a new version[edit]

text: The newly crowned King James convened the Hampton Court Conference in 1604. That gathering proposed a new English version in response to the perceived problems of earlier translations as detected by the Puritan faction of the Church of England. Here are three examples of problems the Puritans perceived with the Bishops and Great Bibles:

text: First, Galatians iv. 25 (from the Bishops' Bible). The Greek word susoichei is not well translated as now it is, bordereth neither expressing the force of the word, nor the apostle's sense, nor the situation of the place. Secondly, psalm cv. 28 (from the Great Bible), 'They were not obedient;' the original being, 'They were not disobedient.' Thirdly, psalm cvi. 30 (also from the Great Bible), 'Then stood up Phinees and prayed,' the Hebrew hath, 'executed judgment.'[43]

text: Instructions were given to the translators that were intended to limit the Puritan influence on this new translation. The Bishop of London added a qualification that the translators would add no marginal notes (which had been an issue in the Geneva Bible).[8] King James cited two passages in the Geneva translation where he found the marginal notes offensive to the principles of divinely ordained royal supremacy :[44] Exodus 1:19, where the Geneva Bible notes had commended the example of civil disobedience to the Egyptian Pharaoh showed by the Hebrew midwives, and also II Chronicles 15:16, where the Geneva Bible had criticized King Asa for not having executed his idolatrous 'mother', Queen Maachah (Maachah had actually been Asa's grandmother, but James considered the Geneva Bible reference as sanctioning the execution of his own mother Mary, Queen of Scots).[44] Further, the King gave the translators instructions designed to guarantee that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology of the Church of England.[8] Certain Greek and Hebrew words were to be translated in a manner that reflected the traditional usage of the church.[8] For example, old ecclesiastical words such as the word "church" were to be retained and not to be translated as "congregation".[8] The new translation would reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and traditional beliefs about ordained clergy.[8]

text: James' instructions included several requirements that kept the new translation familiar to its listeners and readers. The text of the Bishops' Bible would serve as the primary guide for the translators, and the familiar proper names of the biblical characters would all be retained. If the Bishops' Bible was deemed problematic in any situation, the translators were permitted to consult other translations from a pre-approved list: the Tyndale Bible, the Coverdale Bible, Matthew's Bible, the Great Bible, and the Geneva Bible. In addition, later scholars have detected an influence on the Authorized Version from the translations of Taverner's Bible and the New Testament of the Douay–Rheims Bible.[45] It is for this reason that the flyleaf of most printings of the Authorized Version observes that the text had been "translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by His Majesty's special commandment." As the work proceeded, more detailed rules were adopted as to how variant and uncertain readings in the Hebrew and Greek source texts should be indicated, including the requirement that words supplied in English to 'complete the meaning' of the originals should be printed in a different type face. [46]

text: The task of translation was undertaken by 47 scholars, although 54 were originally approved.[9] All were members of the Church of England and all except Sir Henry Savile were clergy.[47] The scholars worked in six committees, two based in each of the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and Westminster. The committees included scholars with Puritan sympathies, as well as High Churchmen. Forty unbound copies of the 1602 edition of the Bishops' Bible were specially printed so that the agreed changes of each committee could be recorded in the margins.[48] The committees worked on certain parts separately and the drafts produced by each committee were then compared and revised for harmony with each other.[49] The scholars were not paid directly for their translation work, instead a circular letter was sent to bishops encouraging them to consider the translators for appointment to well-paid livings as these fell vacant.[47] Several were supported by the various colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, while others were promoted to bishoprics, deaneries and prebends through royal patronage.

text: The committees started work towards the end of 1604. King James I of England, on 22 July 1604, sent a letter to Archbishop Bancroft asking him to contact all English churchmen requesting that they make donations to his project.

text: Right trusty and well beloved, we greet you well. Whereas we have appointed certain learned men, to the number of 4 and 50, for the translating of the Bible, and in this number, divers of them have either no ecclesiastical preferment at all, or else so very small, as the same is far unmeet for men of their deserts and yet we in ourself in any convenient time cannot well remedy it, therefor we do hereby require you, that presently you write in our name as well to the Archbishop of York, as to the rest of the bishops of the province of Cant.[erbury] signifying unto them, that we do well and straitly charge everyone of them ... that (all excuses set apart) when a prebend or parsonage ... shall next upon any occasion happen to be void ... we may commend for the same some such of the learned men, as we shall think fit to be preferred unto it ... Given unto our signet at our palace of West.[minister] on 2 and 20 July, in the 2nd year of our reign of England, France, and of Ireland, and of Scotland xxxvii."[50]

text: They had all completed their sections by 1608, the Apocrypha committee finishing first.[51] From January 1609, a General Committee of Review met at Stationers' Hall, London to review the completed marked texts from each of the six committees. The General Committee included John Bois, Andrew Downes and John Harmar, and others known only by their initials, including "AL" (who may be Arthur Lake), and were paid for their attendance by the Stationers' Company. John Bois prepared a note of their deliberations (in Latin) – which has partly survived in two later transcripts.[52] Also surviving of the translators' working papers are a bound-together set of marked-up corrections to one of the forty Bishops' Bibles – covering the Old Testament and Gospels,[53] and also a manuscript translation of the text of the Epistles, excepting those verses where no change was being recommended to the readings in the Bishops' Bible.[54] Archbishop Bancroft insisted on having a final say making fourteen further changes, of which one was the term "bishopricke" at Acts 1:20.[55]

text: Translation committees[edit]

text: First Westminster Company, translated Genesis to 2 Kings:

text: First Cambridge Company, translated 1 Chronicles to the Song of Solomon:

text: First Oxford Company, translated Isaiah to Malachi:

text: Second Oxford Company, translated the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation:

text: Second Westminster Company, translated the Epistles:

text: Second Cambridge Company, translated the Apocrypha:

text: Printing[edit]

text: The original printing of the Authorized Version was published by Robert Barker, the King's Printer, in 1611 as a complete folio Bible.[58] It was sold looseleaf for ten shillings, or bound for twelve.[59] Robert Barker's father, Christopher, had, in 1589, been granted by Elizabeth I the title of royal Printer,[60] with the perpetual Royal Privilege to print Bibles in England.[b] Robert Barker invested very large sums in printing the new edition, and consequently ran into serious debt,[61] such that he was compelled to sub-lease the privilege to two rival London printers, Bonham Norton and John Bill.[62] It appears that it was initially intended that each printer would print a portion of the text, share printed sheets with the others, and split the proceeds. Bitter financial disputes broke out, as Barker accused Norton and Bill of concealing their profits, while Norton and Bill accused Barker of selling sheets properly due to them as partial Bibles for ready money.[63] There followed decades of continual litigation, and consequent imprisonment for debt for members of the Barker and Norton printing dynasties,[63] while each issued rival editions of the whole Bible. In 1629 the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge successfully managed to assert separate and prior royal licences for Bible printing, for their own university presses – and Cambridge University took the opportunity to print revised editions of the Authorized Version in 1629,[64] and 1638.[65] The editors of these editions included John Bois and John Ward from the original translators. This did not, however, impede the commercial rivalries of the London printers, especially as the Barker family refused to allow any other printers access to the authoritative manuscript of the Authorized Version.[66]

text: Two editions of the whole Bible are recognized as having been produced in 1611, which may be distinguished by their rendering of Ruth 3:15; the first edition reading "he went into the city", where the second reads "she went into the city.";[67] these are known colloquially as the "He" and "She" Bibles.[68]

text: The original printing was made before English spelling was standardized, and when printers, as a matter of course, expanded and contracted the spelling of the same words in different places, so as to achieve an even column of text.[69] They set v for initial u and v, and u for u and v everywhere else. They used long ſ for non-final s.[70] The glyph j occurs only after i, as in the final letter in a Roman numeral. Punctuation was relatively heavy, and differed from current practice. When space needed to be saved, the printers sometimes used ye for the, (replacing the Middle English thorn with the continental y), set ã for an or am (in the style of scribe's shorthand), and set & for and. On the contrary, on a few occasions, they appear to have inserted these words when they thought a line needed to be padded. Later printings regularized these spellings; the punctuation has also been standardized, but still varies from current usage norms.

text: The first printing used a black letter typeface instead of a roman typeface, which itself made a political and a religious statement. Like the Great Bible and the Bishops' Bible, the Authorized Version was "appointed to be read in churches". It was a large folio volume meant for public use, not private devotion; the weight of the type mirrored the weight of establishment authority behind it.[citation needed] However, smaller editions and roman-type editions followed rapidly, e.g. quarto roman-type editions of the Bible in 1612.[71] This contrasted with the Geneva Bible, which was the first English Bible printed in a roman typeface (although black-letter editions, particularly in folio format, were issued later).

text: In contrast to the Geneva Bible and the Bishops' Bible, which had both been extensively illustrated, there were no illustrations at all in the 1611 edition of the Authorized Version, the main form of decoration being the historiated initial letters provided for books and chapters – together with the decorative title pages to the Bible itself, and to the New Testament.

text: In the Great Bible, readings derived from the Vulgate but not found in published Hebrew and Greek texts had been distinguished by being printed in smaller roman type.[72] In the Geneva Bible, a distinct typeface had instead been applied to distinguish text supplied by translators, or thought needful for English grammar but not present in the Greek or Hebrew; and the original printing of the Authorized Version used roman type for this purposed, albeit sparsely and inconsistently.[73] This results in perhaps the most significant difference between the original printed text of the King James Bible and the current text. When, from the later 17th century onwards, the Authorized Version began to be printed in roman type, the typeface for supplied words was changed to italics, this application being regularised and greatly expanded. This was intended to de-emphasise the words.[74]

text: The original printing contained two prefatory texts; the first was a formal Epistle Dedicatory to "the most high and mighty Prince" King James. Many British printings reproduce this, while most non-British printings do not.

text: The second preface was called Translators to the Reader, a long and learned essay that defends the undertaking of the new version. It observes the translators' stated goal, that they, "never thought from the beginning that [they] should need to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one, ... but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principal good one, not justly to be excepted against; that hath been our endeavour, that our mark." They also give their opinion of previous English Bible translations, stating, "We do not deny, nay, we affirm and avow, that the very meanest translation of the Bible in English, set forth by men of our profession, (for we have seen none of theirs [Roman Catholics] of the whole Bible as yet) containeth the word of God, nay, is the word of God." As with the first preface, some British printings reproduce this, while most non-British printings do not. Almost every printing that includes the second preface also includes the first. The first printing contained a number of other apparatus, including a table for the reading of the Psalms at matins and evensong, and a calendar, an almanac, and a table of holy days and observances. Much of this material became obsolete with the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar by Britain and its colonies in 1752, and thus modern editions invariably omit it.

text: So as to make it easier to locate a particular passage, each chapter was headed by a brief precis of its contents with verse numbers. Later editors freely substituted their own chapter summaries, or omitted such material entirely. Pilcrow marks are used to indicate the beginnings of paragraphs except after the book of Acts.

text: Authorized Version[edit]

text: The Authorized Version was meant to replace the Bishops' Bible as the official version for readings in the Church of England. No record of its authorization exists; it was probably effected by an order of the Privy Council but the records for the years 1600 to 1613 were destroyed by fire in January 1618/19[12] and it is commonly known as the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom. The King's Printer issued no further editions of the Bishops' Bible,[60] so necessarily the Authorized Version replaced it as the standard lectern Bible in parish church use in England.

text: In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the text of the Authorized Version finally supplanted that of the Great Bible in the Epistle and Gospel readings[75] – though the Prayer Book Psalter nevertheless continues in the Great Bible version.[76]

text: The case was different in Scotland, where the Geneva Bible had long been the standard church bible. It was not until 1633 that a Scottish edition of the Authorized Version was printed – in conjunction with the Scots coronation in that year of Charles I.[77] The inclusion of illustrations in the edition raised accusations of Popery from opponents of the religious policies of Charles and William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. However, official policy favoured the Authorized Version, and this favour returned during the Commonwealth – as London printers succeeded in re-asserting their monopoly on Bible printing with support from Oliver Cromwell – and the "New Translation" was the only edition on the market.[78] F.F. Bruce reports that the last recorded instance of a Scots parish continuing to use the "Old Translation" (i.e. Geneva) as being in 1674.[79]

text: The Authorized Version's acceptance by the general public took longer. The Geneva Bible continued to be popular, and large numbers were imported from Amsterdam, where printing continued up to 1644 in editions carrying a false London imprint.[80] However, few if any genuine Geneva editions appear to have been printed in London after 1616, and in 1637 Archbishop Laud prohibited their printing or importation. In the period of the English Civil War, soldiers of the New Model Army were issued a book of Geneva selections called "The Soldiers' Bible" .[81] In the first half of the 17th century the Authorized Version is most commonly referred to as "The Bible without notes", thereby distinguishing it from the Geneva "Bible with notes". [77] There were several printings of the Authorized Version in Amsterdam – one as late as 1715 [82] which combined the Authorized Version translation text with the Geneva marginal notes;[83] one such edition was printed in London in 1649. During the Commonwealth a commission was established by Parliament to recommend a revision of the Authorized Version with acceptably Protestant explanatory notes,[80] but the project was abandoned when it became clear that these would nearly double the bulk of the Bible text. After the English Restoration, the Geneva Bible was held to be politically suspect and a reminder of the repudiated Puritan era. Furthermore, disputes over the lucrative rights to print the Authorized Version dragged on through the 17th century, so none of the printers involved saw any commercial advantage in marketing a rival translation. The Authorized Version became the only current version circulating among English-speaking people.

text: A small minority of critical scholars were slow to accept the latest translation. Hugh Broughton, the most highly regarded English Hebraist of his time (but who had been excluded from the panel of translators because of his utterly uncongenial temperament[84]), issued in 1611 a total condemnation of the new version,[85] criticizing especially the translators' rejection of word-for-word equivalence and stated that "he would rather be torn in pieces by wild horses than that this abominable translation (KJV) should ever be foisted upon the English people".[86] Walton's London Polyglot of 1657 disregards the Authorized Version (and indeed the English language) entirely.[87] Walton's reference text throughout is the Vulgate. The Vulgate Latin is also found as the standard text of scripture in Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan of 1651,[88] indeed Hobbes gives Vulgate chapter and verse numbers (e.g., Job 41:24, not Job 41:33) for his head text. In Chapter 35: 'The Signification in Scripture of Kingdom of God' , Hobbes discusses Exodus 19:5, first in his own translation of the 'Vulgar Latin' , and then subsequently as found in the versions he terms "...the English translation made in the beginning of the reign of King James", and "The Geneva French" (i.e. Olivétan). Hobbes advances detailed critical arguments why the Vulgate rendering is to be preferred. For most of the 17th century the assumption remained that, while it had been of vital importance to provide the scriptures in the vernacular for ordinary people, nevertheless for those with sufficient education to do so, Biblical study was best undertaken within the international common medium of Latin. It was only in 1700 that modern bilingual Bibles appeared in which the Authorized Version was compared with counterpart Dutch and French Protestant vernacular Bibles.[89]

text: In consequence of the continual disputes over printing privileges, successive printings of the Authorized Version were notably less careful than the 1611 edition had been – compositors freely varying spelling, capitalization and punctuation[90] – and also, over the years, introducing about 1,500 misprints (some of which, like the omission of "not" from the commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery" in the "Wicked Bible",[91] became notorious). The two Cambridge editions of 1629 and 1638 attempted to restore the proper text – while introducing over 200 revisions of the original translators' work, chiefly by incorporating into the main text a more literal reading originally presented as a marginal note.[92] A more thoroughly corrected edition was proposed following the Restoration, in conjunction with the revised 1662 Book of Common Prayer, but Parliament then decided against it.

text: By the first half of the 18th century, the Authorized Version was effectively unchallenged as the sole English translation in current use in Protestant churches,[10] and was so dominant that the Roman Catholic Church in England issued in 1750 a revision of the 1610 Douay-Rheims Bible by Richard Challoner that was very much closer to the Authorized Version than to the original.[93] However, general standards of spelling, punctuation, typesetting, capitalization and grammar had changed radically in the 100 years since the first edition of the Authorized Version, and all printers in the market were introducing continual piecemeal changes to their Bible texts to bring them into line with current practice – and with public expectations of standardized spelling and grammatical construction.[94]

text: Over the course of the 18th century, the Authorized Version supplanted the Hebrew, Greek and the Latin Vulgate as the standard version of scripture for English speaking scholars and divines, and indeed came to be regarded by some as an inspired text in itself – so much so that any challenge to its readings or textual base came to be regarded by many as an assault on Holy Scripture.[95] This has been contemptuously labelled "AVolatry", a play on the name "Authorized Version" (AV) and idolatry.[96]

text: Standard text of 1769[edit]

text: By the mid-18th century the wide variation in the various modernized printed texts of the Authorized Version, combined with the notorious accumulation of misprints, had reached the proportion of a scandal, and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge both sought to produce an updated standard text. First of the two was the Cambridge edition of 1760, the culmination of 20-years work by Francis Sawyer Parris,[97] who died in May of that year. This 1760 edition was reprinted without change in 1762 [98] and in John Baskerville's fine folio edition of 1763.[99] This was effectively superseded by the 1769 Oxford edition, edited by Benjamin Blayney,[100] though with comparatively few changes from Parris's edition; but which became the Oxford standard text, and is reproduced almost unchanged in most current printings.[101] Parris and Blayney sought consistently to remove those elements of the 1611 and subsequent editions that they believed were due to the vagaries of printers, while incorporating most of the revised readings of the Cambridge editions of 1629 and 1638, and each also introducing a few improved readings of their own. They undertook the mammoth task of standardizing the wide variation in punctuation and spelling of the original, making many thousands of minor changes to the text. In addition, Blayney and Parris thoroughly revised and greatly extended the italicization of "supplied" words not found in the original languages by cross-checking against the presumed source texts. Blayney seems to have worked from the 1550 Stephanus edition of the Textus Receptus, rather than the later editions of Beza that the translators of the 1611 New Testament had favoured; accordingly the current Oxford standard text alters around a dozen italicizations where Beza and Stephanus differ.[102] Like the 1611 edition, the 1769 Oxford edition included the Apocrypha, although Blayney tended to remove cross-references to the Books of the Apocrypha from the margins of their Old and New Testaments wherever these had been provided by the original translators. Altogether, the standardization of spelling and punctuation caused Blayney's 1769 text to differ from the 1611 text in around 24,000 places.[103] Since that date, a few further changes have been introduced to the Oxford standard text. The Oxford University Press paperback edition of the "Authorized King James Version" provides Oxford's standard text, and also includes the prefatory section "The Translators to the Reader".[104]

text: The 1611 and 1769 texts of the first three verses from I Corinthians 13 are given below.

text: [1611] 1. Though I speake with the tongues of men & of Angels, and haue not charity, I am become as sounding brasse or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I haue the gift of prophesie, and vnderstand all mysteries and all knowledge: and though I haue all faith, so that I could remooue mountaines, and haue no charitie, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestowe all my goods to feede the poore, and though I giue my body to bee burned, and haue not charitie, it profiteth me nothing.

text: [1769] 1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

text: There are a number of superficial edits in these three verses: 11 changes of spelling, 16 changes of typesetting (including the changed conventions for the use of u and v), three changes of punctuation, and one variant text – where "not charity" is substituted for "no charity" in verse two, in the erroneous belief that the original reading was a misprint.

text: A particular verse for which Blayney's 1769 text differs from Parris's 1760 version is Matthew 5:13, where Parris (1760) has

text: Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be troden under foot of men.

text: Blayney (1769) changes 'lost his savour' to 'lost its savour', and troden to trodden.

text: For a period, Cambridge continued to issue Bibles using the Parris text, but the market demand for absolute standardization was now such that they eventually adapted Blayney's work, but omitted some of the idiosyncratic Oxford spellings. By the mid-19th century, almost all printings of the Authorized Version were derived from the 1769 Oxford text – increasingly without Blayney's variant notes and cross references, and commonly excluding the Apocrypha.[105] One exception to this was a scrupulous original-spelling, page-for-page, and line-for-line reprint of the 1611 edition (including all chapter headings, marginalia, and original italicization, but with Roman type substituted for the black letter of the original), published by Oxford in 1833.[c] Another important exception was the 1873 Cambridge Paragraph Bible, thoroughly revised, modernized and re-edited by F. H. A. Scrivener, who for the first time consistently identified the source texts underlying the 1611 translation and its marginal notes.[107] Scrivener, like Blayney, opted to revise the translation where he considered the judgement of the 1611 translators had been faulty.[108] In 2005, Cambridge University Press released its New Cambridge Paragraph Bible with Apocrypha, edited by David Norton, which followed in the spirit of Scrivener's work, attempting to bring spelling to present-day standards. Norton also innovated with the introduction of quotation marks, while returning to a hypothetical 1611 text, so far as possible, to the wording used by its translators, especially in the light of the re-emphasis on some of their draft documents.[109] This text has been issued in paperback by Penguin books.[110]

text: From the early 19th century the Authorized Version has remained almost completely unchanged – and since, due to advances in printing technology, it could now be produced in very large editions for mass sale, it established complete dominance in public and ecclesiastical use in the English-speaking Protestant world. Academic debate through that century, however, increasingly reflected concerns about the Authorized Version shared by some scholars: (a) that subsequent study in oriental languages suggested a need to revise the translation of the Hebrew Bible – both in terms of specific vocabulary, and also in distinguishing descriptive terms from proper names; (b) that the Authorized Version was unsatisfactory in translating the same Greek words and phrases into different English, especially where parallel passages are found in the synoptic gospels; and (c) in the light of subsequent ancient manuscript discoveries, the New Testament translation base of the Greek Textus Receptus could no longer be considered to be the best representation of the original text.[111]

text: Responding to these concerns, the Convocation of Canterbury resolved in 1870 to undertake a revision of the text of the Authorized Version, intending to retain the original text "except where in the judgement of competent scholars such a change is necessary". The resulting revision was issued as the Revised Version in 1881 (New Testament), 1885 (Old Testament) and 1894 (Apocrypha); but, although it sold widely, the revision did not find popular favour, and it was only reluctantly in 1899 that Convocation approved it for reading in churches.[112]

text: By the early 20th century, editing had been completed in Cambridge's text, with at least 6 new changes since 1769, and the reversing of at least 30 of the standard Oxford readings. The distinct Cambridge text was printed in the millions, and after the Second World War "the unchanging steadiness of the KJB was a huge asset."[113] The Cambridge edition is preferred by scholars.[114]

text: The Authorized Version maintained its effective dominance throughout the first half of the 20th century. New translations in the second half of the 20th century displaced its 250 years of dominance (roughly 1700 to 1950),[115] but groups do exist – sometimes termed the King James Only movement – that distrust anything not in agreement with the Authorized Version.[116]

text: Editorial criticism[edit]

text: F. H. A. Scrivener and D. Norton have both written in detail on editorial variations which have occurred through the history of the publishing of the Authorized Version from 1611 to 1769. In the 19th century, there were effectively three main guardians of the text. Norton identified five variations among the Oxford, Cambridge and London (Eyre and Spottiswoode) texts of 1857, such as the spelling of "farther" or "further" at Matthew 26:39.[117]

text: In the 20th century, variation between the editions was reduced to comparing the Cambridge to the Oxford. Distinctly identified Cambridge readings included "or Sheba" (Joshua 19:2), "sin" (2 Chronicles 33:19), "clifts" (Job 30:6), "vapour" (Psalm 148:8), "flieth" (Nahum 3:16), "further" (Matthew 26:39) and a number of other references. In effect the Cambridge was considered the current text in comparison to the Oxford.[118] These are instances where both Oxford and Cambridge have now diverged from Blayney's 1769 Edition. The distinctions between the Oxford and Cambridge editions have been a major point in the Bible version debate,[114] and a potential theological issue,[119] particularly in regard to the identification of the Pure Cambridge Edition.[120]

text: Cambridge University Press introduced a change at 1 John 5:8 in 1985, reversing its longstanding tradition of printing the word "spirit" in lower case by using a capital letter "S".[121] A Rev. Hardin of Bedford, Pennsylvania, wrote a letter to Cambridge inquiring about this verse, and subsequently received a reply from Dr. Cooper on June 3, 1985, admitting that it was a "matter of some embarrassment regarding the lower case 's' in Spirit".

text: Literary attributes[edit]

text: Translation[edit]

text: Like Tyndale's translation and the Geneva Bible, the Authorized Version was translated primarily from Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts, although with secondary reference both to the Latin Vulgate, and to more recent scholarly Latin versions; two books of the Apocrypha were translated from a Latin source. Following the example of the Geneva Bible, words implied but not actually in the original source were distinguished by being printed in distinct type (albeit inconsistently), but otherwise the translators explicitly rejected word-for-word equivalence.[122] F.F Bruce gives an example from Romans Chapter 5:[123]

text: 2 By whom also wee have accesse by faith, into this grace wherein wee stand, and rejoyce in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not onely so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience:

text: The English terms "rejoice" and "glory" stand for the same word in the Greek original. In Tyndale, Geneva and the Bishops' Bibles, both instances are translated "rejoice". In the Douay – Rheims New Testament, both are translated "glory". Only in the Authorized Version does the translation vary between the two verses.

text: In obedience to their instructions, the translators provided no marginal interpretation of the text, but in some 8,500 places a marginal note offers an alternative English wording.[124] The majority of these notes offer a more literal rendering of the original (introduced as "Heb", "Chal", "Gr" or "Lat"), but others indicate a variant reading of the source text (introduced by "or"). Some of the annotated variants derive from alternative editions in the original languages, or from variant forms quoted in the fathers. More commonly, though, they indicate a difference between the literal original language reading and that in the translators' preferred recent Latin versions: Tremellius for the Old Testament, Junius for the Apocrypha, and Beza for the New Testament.[125] At thirteen places in the New Testament[126] (e.g. Luke 17:36 and Acts 25:6) a marginal note records a variant reading found in some Greek manuscript copies; in almost all cases reproducing a counterpart textual note at the same place in Beza's editions.[127] A few more extensive notes clarify Biblical names and units of measurement or currency. Modern reprintings rarely reproduce these annotated variants – although they are to be found in the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible. In addition, there were originally some 9,000 scriptural cross-references, in which one text was related to another. Such cross-references had long been common in Latin Bibles, and most of those in the Authorized Version were copied unaltered from this Latin tradition. Consequently the early editions of the KJV retain many Vulgate verse references – e.g. in the numbering of the Psalms.[128] At the head of each chapter, the translators provided a short précis of its contents, with verse numbers; these are rarely included in complete form in modern editions.

text: Also in obedience to their instructions, the translators indicated 'supplied' words in a different typeface; but there was no attempt to regularise the instances where this practice had been applied across the different companies; and especially in the New Testament, it was used much less frequently in the 1611 edition than would later be the case.[73] In one verse, 1 John 2:23, an entire clause was printed in roman type (as it had also been in the Great Bible and Bishop's Bible);[129] indicating a reading then primarily derived from the Vulgate, albeit one for which the later editions of Beza had provided a Greek text. [130]

text: In the Old Testament the translators render the Tetragrammaton YHWH by "the LORD" (in later editions in small capitals as LORD),[d] or "the LORD God" (for YHWH Elohim, יהוה אלהים),[e] except in four places by "IEHOVAH" (Exodus 6:3, Psalm 83:18, Isaiah 12:2 and Isaiah 26:4) and three times in a combination form. (Genesis 22:14, Exodus 17:15, Judges 6:24) However, if the Tetragrammaton occurs with the Hebrew word adonai (Lord) then it is rendered not as the "Lord LORD" but as the "Lord God". (Psalm 73:28,etc.) In later editions as "Lord GOD" with "GOD" in small capitals indicating to the reader that God's name appears in the original Hebrew.

text: Old Testament[edit]

text: For their Old Testament, the translators used a text originating in the editions of the Hebrew Rabbinic Bible by Daniel Bomberg (1524/5),[131] but adjusted this to conform to the Greek LXX or Latin Vulgate in passages to which Christian tradition had attached a Christological interpretation.[132] For example, the Septuagint reading "They pierced my hands and my feet" was used in Psalm 22:16 (vs. the Masoretes' reading of the Hebrew "like lions my hands and feet"[133]). Otherwise, however, the Authorized Version is closer to the Hebrew tradition than any previous English translation – especially in making use of the rabbinic commentaries, such as Kimhi, in elucidating obscure passages in the Masoretic Text;[134] earlier versions had been more likely to adopt LXX or Vulgate readings in such places. Following the practice of the Geneva Bible, the books of 1 Esdras and 2 Esdras in the Old Testament were renamed 'Ezra' and 'Nehemiah'; 3 Esdras and 4 Esdras in the Apocrypha being renamed '1 Esdras' and '2 Esdras'.

text: New Testament[edit]

text: For their New Testament, the translators chiefly used the 1598 and 1588/89 Greek editions of Theodore Beza,[135] which also present Beza's Latin version of the Greek and Stephanus's edition of the Latin Vulgate. Both of these versions were extensively referred to, as the translators conducted all discussions amongst themselves in Latin. F.H.A. Scrivener identifies 190 readings where the Authorized Version translators depart from Beza's Greek text, generally in maintaining the wording of the Bishop's Bible and other earlier English translations.[136] In about half of these instances, the Authorized Version translators appear to follow the earlier 1550 Greek Textus Receptus of Stephanus. For the other half, Scrivener was usually able to find corresponding Greek readings in the editions of Erasmus, or in the Complutensian Polyglot. However, in several dozen readings he notes that no printed Greek text corresponds to the English of the Authorized Version, which in these places derives directly from the Vulgate.[137] For example, at John 10:16, the Authorized Version reads "one fold" (as did the Bishops' Bible, and the 16th century vernacular versions produced in Geneva), following the Latin Vulgate "unum ovile", whereas Tyndale had agreed more closely with the Greek, "one flocke" (μία ποίμνη). The Authorized Version New Testament owes much more to the Vulgate than does the Old Testament; still, at least 80% of the text is unaltered from Tyndale's translation.[138]

text: Apocrypha[edit]

text: Unlike the rest of the Bible, the translators of the Apocrypha identified their source texts in their marginal notes.[139] From these it can be determined that the books of the Apocrypha were translated from the Septuagint – primarily, from the Greek Old Testament column in the Antwerp Polyglot – but with extensive reference to the counterpart Latin Vulgate text, and to Junius's Latin translation. The translators record references to the Sixtine Septuagint of 1587, which is substantially a printing of the Old Testament text from the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209, and also to the 1518 Greek Septuagint edition of Aldus Manutius. They had, however, no Greek texts for 2 Esdras, or for the Prayer of Manasses, and Scrivener found that they here used an unidentified Latin manuscript.[139]

text: Sources[edit]

text: The translators appear to have otherwise made no first-hand study of ancient manuscript sources, even those that – like the Codex Bezae – would have been readily available to them.[140] In addition to all previous English versions (including, and contrary to their instructions,[141] the Rheimish New Testament[142] which in their preface they criticized); they made wide and eclectic use of all printed editions in the original languages then available, including the ancient Syriac New Testament printed with an interlinear Latin gloss in the Antwerp Polyglot of 1573.[143] In the preface the translators acknowledge consulting translations and commentaries in Chaldee, Hebrew, Syrian, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, and German.[144]

text: The translators took the Bishop's Bible as their source text, and where they departed from that in favour of another translation, this was most commonly the Geneva Bible. However, the degree to which readings from the Bishop's Bible survived into final text of the King James Bible varies greatly from company to company, as did the propensity of the King James translators to coin phrases of their own. John Bois's notes of the General Committee of Review show that they discussed readings derived from a wide variety of versions and patristic sources; including explicitly both Henry Savile's 1610 edition of the works of John Chrysostom and the Rheims New Testament,[145] which was the primary source for many of the literal alternative readings provided for the marginal notes.

text: Variations from recent translations[edit]

text: A number of Bible verses in the King James Version of the New Testament are not found in more recent Bible translations, where these are based on modern critical texts. In the early seventeenth century, the source Greek texts of the New Testament used for the production of Protestant bible versions depended mainly on manuscripts of the late Byzantine text-type, and with minor variations contained what became known as the Textus Receptus.[146] With the subsequent identification of much earlier manuscripts, most modern textual scholars value the evidence of manuscripts belonging to the Alexandrian family as better witnesses to the original text of the biblical authors,[147] without giving it, or any family, automatic preference.[148]

text: Style and criticism[edit]

text: A primary concern of the translators was to produce an appropriate Bible, dignified and resonant in public reading. Although the Authorized Version's written style is an important part of its influence on English, research has found only one verse – Hebrews 13:8 – for which translators debated the wording's literary merits. While they stated in the preface that they used stylistic variation, finding multiple English words or verbal forms in places where the original language employed repetition, in practice they also did the opposite; for example, 14 different Hebrew words were translated into the single English word "prince".[6]

text: In a period of rapid linguistic change the translators avoided contemporary idioms, tending instead towards forms that were already slightly archaic, like verily and it came to pass.[84] The pronouns thou/thee and ye/you are consistently used as singular and plural respectively, even though by this time you was often found as the singular in general English usage, especially when addressing a social superior (as is evidenced, for example, in Shakespeare).[149] For the possessive of the third person pronoun, the word its, first recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1598, is avoided.[150] The older his is usually employed, as for example at Matthew 5:13: "if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?";[150] in other places of it, thereof or bare it are found.[f] Another sign of linguistic conservativism is the invariable use of -eth for the third person singular present form of the verb, as at Matthew 2:13: "the Angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dreame". The rival ending -(e)s, as found in present-day English, was already widely used by this time (for example, it predominates over -eth in the plays of Shakespeare and Marlowe).[152] Furthermore, the translators preferred which to who or whom as the relative pronoun for persons, as in Genesis 13:5: "And Lot also which went with Abram, had flocks and heards, & tents"[153] although who(m) is also found.[g]

text: The Authorized Version is notably more Latinate than previous English versions,[141] especially the Geneva Bible. This results in part from the academic stylistic preferences of a number of the translators – several of whom admitted to being more comfortable writing in Latin than in English – but was also, in part, a consequence of the royal proscription against explanatory notes.[154] Hence, where the Geneva Bible might use a common English word – and gloss its particular application in a marginal note – the Authorized Version tends rather to prefer a technical term, frequently in Anglicized Latin. Consequently, although the King had instructed the translators to use the Bishops' Bible as a base text, the New Testament in particular owes much stylistically to the Catholic Rheims New Testament, whose translators had also been concerned to find English equivalents for Latin terminology.[155] In addition, the translators of the New Testament books habitually quote Old Testament names in the renderings familiar from the Vulgate Latin rather than in forms closer to the original Hebrew (e.g. "Elias" and "Jeremias" for "Elijah" and "Jeremiah", respectively).

text: While the Authorized Version remains among the most widely sold, modern critical New Testament translations differ substantially from it in a number of passages, primarily because they rely on source manuscripts not then accessible to (or not then highly regarded by) early 17th-century Biblical scholarship.[156] In the Old Testament, there are also many differences from modern translations that are based not on manuscript differences, but on a different understanding of Ancient Hebrew vocabulary or grammar by the translators. For example, in modern translations it is clear that Job 28:1–11 is referring throughout to mining operations, which is not at all apparent from the text of the Authorized Version.[157]

text: Mistranslations[edit]

text: The King James version contains several mistranslations; especially in the Old Testament where the knowledge of Hebrew and cognate languages was uncertain at the time. Most of these are minor and do not significantly change the meaning compared to the source material.[158] Among the most commonly cited errors is in the Hebrew of Job and Deuteronomy, where רֶאֵם "Re'em" with the probable meaning of "wild-ox, aurochs", is translated in the KJV as "unicorn"; following in this the Vulgate unicornis and several medieval rabbinic commentators. The translators of the KJV note the alternative rendering, "rhinocerots" [sic] in the margin at Isaiah 34:7. On a similar note Martin Luther's German translation had also relied on the Vulgate Latin on this point, consistently translating רֶאֵם using the German word for unicorn, "Einhorn."[159] Otherwise, the translators on several occasions mistakenly interpreted a Hebrew descriptive phrase as a proper name (or vice versa); as at 2 Samuel 1:18 where 'the Book of Jasher' סֵפֶר הַיׇּשׇׁר properly refers not to a work by an author of that name, but should rather be rendered as "the Book of the Upright."

text: Influence[edit]

text: Despite royal patronage and encouragement, there was never any overt mandate to use the new translation. It was not until 1661 that the Authorized Version replaced the Bishops Bible in the Epistle and Gospel lessons of the Book of Common Prayer, and it never did replace the older translation in the Psalter. In 1763 The Critical Review complained that "many false interpretations, ambiguous phrases, obsolete words and indelicate expressions...excite the derision of the scorner". Blayney's 1769 version, with its revised spelling and punctuation, helped change the public perception of the Authorized Version to a masterpiece of the English language.[6] By the 19th century, F. W. Faber could say of the translation, "It lives on the ear, like music that can never be forgotten, like the sound of church bells, which the convert hardly knows how he can forego."[160]

text: The Authorized Version has been called "the most influential version of the most influential book in the world, in what is now its most influential language", "the most important book in English religion and culture", and "the most celebrated book in the English-speaking world". David Crystal has estimated that it is responsible for 257 idioms in English, examples include feet of clay and reap the whirlwind. Furthermore, prominent atheist figures such as the late Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins have praised the King James Version as being "a giant step in the maturing of English literature" and "a great work of literature", respectively, with Dawkins then adding, "A native speaker of English who has never read a word of the King James Bible is verging on the barbarian".[161][162]

text: Although the Authorized Version's former monopoly in the English-speaking world has diminished – for example, the Church of England recommends six other versions in addition to it – it is still the most used translation in the United States, especially as the Scofield Reference Bible for Evangelicals.[6] In addition, in the Orthodox Church in America, the King James Version is used liturgically, and was made "the 'official' translation for a whole generation of American Orthodox". The later Service Book of the Antiochian Archdiocese, in vogue today, also uses the King James Version.[h] The King James Version is also one of the versions authorized to be used in the services of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion,[164] as it is the historical Bible of this Church.

text: Copyright status[edit]

text: The Authorized Version is in the public domain in most of the world. However, in the United Kingdom, the right to print, publish and distribute it is a Royal prerogative and the Crown licenses publishers to reproduce it under letters patent. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the letters patent are held by the Queen's Printer, and in Scotland by the Scottish Bible Board. The office of Queen's Printer has been associated with the right to reproduce the Bible for centuries, the earliest known reference coming in 1577. In the 18th century all surviving interests in the monopoly were bought out by John Baskett. The Baskett rights descended through a number of printers and, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Queen's Printer is now Cambridge University Press, who inherited the right when they took over the firm of Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1990.[165]

text: Other royal charters of similar antiquity grant Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press the right to produce the Authorized Version independently of the Queen's Printer. In Scotland the Authorized Version is published by Collins under licence from the Scottish Bible Board. The terms of the letters patent prohibit any other than the holders, or those authorized by the holders, from printing, publishing or importing the Authorized Version into the United Kingdom. The protection that the Authorized Version, and also the Book of Common Prayer, enjoy is the last remnant of the time when the Crown held a monopoly over all printing and publishing in the United Kingdom.[165] Almost all provisions granting copyright in perpetuity were abolished by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, but because the Authorized Version is protected by royal prerogative rather than copyright, it will remain protected, as specified in CDPA s171(1)(b).[i]

text: Permission[edit]

text: Cambridge University Press permits the reproduction of at most 500 verses for "liturgical and non-commercial educational use" if their prescribed acknowledgement is included, the quoted verses do not exceed 25% of the publication quoting them and do not include a complete Bible book.[166] For use beyond this, the Press is willing to consider permission requested on a case-by-case basis and in 2011 a spokesman said the Press generally does not charge a fee but tries to ensure that a reputable source text is used.[167][168]

text: Apocrypha[edit]

text: Translations of the books of the Biblical apocrypha were necessary for the King James version, as readings from these books were included in the daily Old Testament lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer. Protestant Bibles in the 16th century included the books of the Apocrypha – generally, following the Luther Bible, in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments to indicate they were not considered part of the Old Testament text – and there is evidence that these were widely read as popular literature, especially in Puritan circles;[169][170] The Apocrypha of the King James Version has the same 14 books as had been found in the Apocrypha of the Bishop's Bible; however, following the practice of the Geneva Bible, the first two books of the Apocrypha were renamed 1 Esdras and 2 Esdras, as compared to the names in the Thirty-nine Articles, with the corresponding Old Testament books being renamed Ezra and Nehemiah. Starting in 1630, volumes of the Geneva Bible were occasionally bound with the pages of the Apocrypha section excluded. In 1644 the Long Parliament forbade the reading of the Apocrypha in Church and in 1666 the first editions of the King James Bible without the Apocrypha were bound.[171]

text: The standardization of the text of the Authorized Version after 1769 together with the technological development of stereotype printing made it possible to produce Bibles in large print-runs at very low unit prices. For commercial and charitable publishers, editions of the Authorized Version without the Apocrypha reduced the cost, while having increased market appeal to non-Anglican Protestant readers.[172]

text: With the rise of the Bible societies, most editions have omitted the whole section of Apocryphal books.[173] The British and Foreign Bible Society withdrew subsidies for bible printing and dissemination in 1826, under the following resolution:

text: That the funds of the Society be applied to the printing and circulation of the Canonical Books of Scripture, to the exclusion of those Books and parts of Books usually termed Apocryphal;[174]

text: The American Bible Society adopted a similar policy. Both societies eventually reversed these policies in light of 20th century ecumenical efforts on translations, the ABS doing so in 1964 and the BFBS in 1966.[175]

text: King James Only movement[edit]

text: The King James Only movement advocates the superiority of the King James Version over all other English translations. Most adherents of the movement believe that the Textus Receptus is very close, if not identical, to the original autographs thereby making it the ideal Greek source for the translation. They argue that most modern English translations are based on a corrupted New Testament text that relies primarily on the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus manuscripts.


document_title: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

question_text: who played janet in rocky horror picture show

root

text: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

text: Plot[edit]

text: A criminologist narrates the tale of the newly engaged couple Brad Majors and Janet Weiss who find themselves lost and with a flat tire on a cold and rainy late November evening, somewhere near Denton, Ohio. Seeking a telephone, the couple walk to a nearby castle where they discover a group of strange and outlandish people who are holding an Annual Transylvanian Convention. They are soon swept into the world of Dr. Frank N. Furter, a self-proclaimed "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania". The ensemble of convention attendees also includes servants Riff Raff, his sister Magenta, and a groupie named Columbia.

tag: p

text: In his lab, Frank claims to have discovered the "secret to life itself". His creation, Rocky, is brought to life. The ensuing celebration is soon interrupted by Eddie (an ex-delivery boy, both Frank and Columbia's ex-lover, as well as partial brain donor to Rocky) who rides out of a deep freeze on a motorcycle. Eddie then proceeds to seduce Columbia, get the Transylvanians dancing and singing and intrigue Brad and Janet. When Rocky starts dancing and enjoying the performance, a jealous Frank kills Eddie with a pick. Columbia screams in horror, devastated by Eddie's death. Frank justifies killing Eddie as a "mercy killing" to Rocky and they depart to the bridal suite.

text: Brad and Janet are shown to separate bedrooms, where each is visited and seduced by Frank, who poses as Brad (when visiting Janet) and then as Janet (when visiting Brad). Janet, upset and emotional, wanders off to look for Brad, who she discovers, via a television monitor, is in bed with Frank. She then discovers Rocky, cowering in his birth tank, hiding from Riff Raff, who has been tormenting him. While tending to his wounds, Janet becomes intimate with Rocky, as Magenta and Columbia watch from their bedroom monitor.

text: After discovering that his creation is missing, Frank returns to the lab with Brad and Riff Raff, where Frank learns that an intruder has entered the building. Brad and Janet's old high school science teacher, Dr. Everett Scott, has come looking for his nephew, Eddie. Frank suspects that Dr. Scott investigates UFOs for the government. Upon learning of Brad and Janet's connection to Dr. Scott, Frank suspects them of working for him. Frank, Dr. Scott, Brad, and Riff Raff then discover Janet and Rocky together under the sheets in Rocky's birth tank, upsetting Frank and Brad. Magenta interrupts the reunion by sounding a massive gong and stating that dinner is prepared.

text: Rocky and the guests share an uncomfortable dinner, which they soon realize has been prepared from Eddie's mutilated remains. Janet runs screaming into Rocky's arms, provoking Frank to chase her through the halls. Janet, Brad, Dr. Scott, Rocky, and Columbia all meet in Frank's lab, where Frank captures them with the Medusa Transducer, transforming them into nude statues. After dressing them in cabaret costume, Frank "unfreezes" them, and they perform a live cabaret floor show, complete with an RKO tower and a swimming pool, with Frank as the leader.

text: Riff Raff and Magenta interrupt the performance, revealing themselves and Frank to be aliens from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. They stage a coup and announce a plan to return to their home planet. In the process, they kill Columbia and Frank, who has "failed his mission". An enraged Rocky, impervious to Riff Raff's raygun, gathers Frank in his arms, climbs to the top of the tower, and plunges to his death in the pool below. Riff Raff and Magenta release Brad, Janet, and Dr. Scott, then depart by lifting off in the castle itself. The survivors are then left crawling in the dirt, and the narrator concludes that the human race is equivalent to insects crawling on the planet's surface, "lost in time, and lost in space... and meaning".

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Tim Curry as Dr. Frank N. Furter, a scientist.
Susan Sarandon as Janet Weiss, a heroine.
Barry Bostwick as Brad Majors, a hero.
Richard O'Brien as Riff Raff, a handyman.
Patricia Quinn as Magenta, a domestic.
Nell Campbell as Columbia, a groupie (credited as Little Nell).
Jonathan Adams as Dr. Everett V. Scott, a rival scientist.
Peter Hinwood as Rocky Horror, a creation.
Meat Loaf as Eddie, an ex-delivery boy.
Charles Gray as The Criminologist, an expert.
Jeremy Newson as Ralph Hapschatt.
Hilary Farr as Betty Munroe (credited as Hilary Labow).

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Concept and development[edit]

text: Richard O'Brien was living as an unemployed actor in London during the early 1970s. He wrote most of The Rocky Horror Show during one winter just to occupy himself.[6][7] Since his youth, O'Brien had loved science fiction and B horror movies. He wanted to combine elements of the unintentional humour of B horror movies, portentous dialogue of schlock-horror, Steve Reeves muscle flicks, and fifties rock and roll into his musical.[8] O'Brien conceived and wrote the play set against the backdrop of the glam era that had manifested itself throughout British popular culture in the 1970s.[9] Allowing his concept to come into being, O'Brien states "glam rock allowed me to be myself more".[10]

text: O'Brien showed a portion of the unfinished script to Australian director Jim Sharman, who decided to direct it at the small experimental space Upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, Chelsea, London, which was used as a project space for new work.[6] O'Brien had appeared briefly in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar, directed by Sharman, and the two also worked together in Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand. Sharman would bring in production designer Brian Thomson.[11] The original creative team was then rounded out by costume designer Sue Blane, musical director Richard Hartley, and stage producer Michael White, who was brought in to produce. As the musical went into rehearsal, the working title, They Came from Denton High, was changed just before previews at the suggestion of Sharman to The Rocky Horror Show.[6][12]

text: Having premiered in the small sixty-seat Royal Court Theatre, it quickly moved to larger venues in London, transferring to the 230-seat Chelsea Classic Cinema on Kings Road on 14 August 1973, before finding a quasi-permanent home at the 500-seat King's Road Theatre from 3 November 1973, running for six years.[13] The musical made its U.S. debut in Los Angeles in 1974 before being played in New York City as well as other cities.[11] Producer and Ode Records owner Lou Adler attended the London production in the winter of 1973, escorted by friend Britt Ekland. He immediately decided to purchase the U.S. theatrical rights. His production would be staged at his Roxy Theatre in L.A.[14] In 1975, The Rocky Horror Show premiered on Broadway at the 1,000-seat Belasco Theatre.[15]

text: Filming and locations[edit]

text: The film was shot at Bray Studios and Oakley Court, a country house near Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, and at Elstree Studios[16] for post production,[17] from 21 October to 19 December 1974. Oakley Court, built in 1857 in the Victorian Gothic style, is known for a number of Hammer films.[18][19] Much of the location shooting took place there, although at the time the manor was not in good condition.[20] Much of the cast were from the original London stage production, including Tim Curry, who had decided that Dr Frank N. Furter should speak like the Queen of England, extravagantly posh.[10] Fox insisted on casting the two characters of Brad and Janet with American actors, Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon.[11] Filming took place during autumn, which made conditions worse. During filming, Sarandon fell ill with pneumonia.[8] Filming of the laboratory scene and the title character's creation occurred on 30 October 1974.[21]

text: The film is both a parody and tribute to many of the science fiction and horror movies from the 1930s up to the 1970s.[6] The film production retains many aspects from the stage version such as production design and music, but adds new scenes not featured in the original stage play.[11] The film's plot, setting, and style echo those of the Hammer Horror films, which had their own instantly recognizable style (just as Universal Studios' horror films did).[22] The originally proposed opening sequence was to contain clips of various films mentioned in the lyrics, as well as the first few sequences shot in black and white, but this was deemed too expensive and scrapped.[11]

text: Costumes, make-up, and props[edit]

text: In the stage productions, actors generally did their own make-up; however, for the film, the producers chose Pierre La Roche, who had previously been a make-up artist for Mick Jagger and David Bowie, to redesign the make-up for each character.[23] Production stills were taken by rock photographer Mick Rock, who has published a number of books from his work.[24] In Rocky Horror; From Concept to Cult, designer Sue Blane discusses the Rocky Horror costumes' influence on punk music style. "[It was a] big part of the build-up [to punk]." She states that ripped fishnet stockings, glitter, and coloured hair were directly attributable to Rocky Horror.[6]

text: Some of the costumes from the film had been originally used in the stage production. Props and set pieces were reused from old Hammer Horror productions and others. The tank and dummy used for Rocky's birth originally appeared in The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958). These references to earlier productions, in addition to cutting costs, enhanced the cult status of the film.[25]

text: Costume designer Sue Blane was not keen on working for the film until she became aware that Curry, an old friend, was committed to the project. Curry and Blane had worked together in Glasgow's Citizens Theatre in a production of The Maids, for which Curry had worn a woman's corset. Blane arranged for the theatre to loan her the corset from the other production for Rocky Horror.[26] Blane admits that she did not conduct research for her designing, had never seen a science fiction film, and is acutely aware that her costumes for Brad and Janet may have been generalizations.

text: "When I designed Rocky, I never looked at any science fiction movies or comic books. One just automatically knows what spacesuits look like, the same way one intuitively knows how Americans dress. I had never been to the United States, but I had this fixed idea of how people looked there. Americans wore polyester so their clothes wouldn't crease, and their trousers were a bit too short. Since they're very keen on sports, white socks and white T-shirts played an integral part in their wardrobe. Of course, since doing Rocky I have been to the United States and admit it was a bit of a generalization, but my ideas worked perfectly for Brad and Janet."[26]

text: The budget for the film's costumes was US$1,600,[26] far more than the stage production budget, but having to double up on costumes for filming was expensive. For filming, corsets for the finale had to be doubled for the pool scene, with one version drying while the other was worn on set. While many of the costumes are exact replicas from the stage productions, other costumes were new to filming, such as Columbia's gold sequined swallow-tail coat and top hat and Magenta's maid's uniform.[26]

text: Blane was amazed by the recreation and understanding of her designs by fans.[26] When she first heard that people were dressing up, she thought it would be tacky, but was surprised to see the depth to which the fans went to recreate her designs. Rocky Horror fan Mina Credeur, who designs costumes and performed as Columbia for Houston’s performance group, states that "the best part is when everyone leaves with a big smile on their face", noting that there's "such a kitschiness and campiness that it seems to be winking at you".[27] The film still plays at many theatre locations and Rocky Horror costumes are often made for Halloween, although many require much time and effort to make.[28]

text: Title sequence[edit]

text: The film starts with the screen fading to black and oversized, disembodied female lips appear overdubbed with a male voice,[25][29] establishing the androgynous theme to be repeated as the film unfolds.[30] The opening scene and song, "Science Fiction/Double Feature", consists of the lips of Patricia Quinn (who appears in the film later as the character Magenta [in addition to the latter, appeared as 'Trixie' the Usherette in the original London production who sang the song]), but has the vocals of actor and Rocky Horror creator, Richard O'Brien (who appears as Magenta's brother Riff Raff). The lyrics refer to science fiction and horror films of the past and list several film titles from the 1930s to the 1970s, including The Day the Earth Stood Still, Flash Gordon, The Invisible Man, King Kong, It Came from Outer Space, Doctor X, Forbidden Planet, Tarantula, The Day of the Triffids, Curse of the Demon, and When Worlds Collide.[6] The disembodied lips of model Lorelei Shark[31] are featured on posters and other merchandise for the film, with the tagline "A Different Set of Jaws", a spoof of the poster for the film Jaws (which was also released in 1975).[25]

text: Music[edit]

text: The soundtrack was released in 1975 by Ode Records and produced by Richard Hartley. The album peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard 200 in 1978.[32] It reached No. 12 on the Australian albums chart[33] and No. 11 on the New Zealand albums chart.[34] The album is described as the "definitive version of the [Rocky Horror] score."[35]

text:
"Science Fiction/Double Feature" – The Lips (those of Patricia Quinn; voice of Richard O'Brien)
"Dammit Janet" – Brad, Janet, and Chorus
"There's a Light (Over at the Frankenstein Place)" – Janet, Brad, Riff Raff, and Chorus
"The Time Warp" – Riff Raff, Magenta, The Criminologist, Columbia, and Transylvanians
"Sweet Transvestite" – Frank
"The Sword of Damocles" – Rocky and Transylvanians
"I Can Make You a Man" – Frank with Brad, Janet, Riff Raff, Magenta, and Columbia
"Hot Patootie – Bless My Soul" – Eddie and Transylvanians
"I Can Make You a Man (Reprise)" – Frank, Janet, and Transylvanians
"Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me" – Janet with Magenta, Columbia, Rocky, Brad, Frank, and Riff Raff
"Once in a While" (deleted scene) – Brad
"Eddie" – Dr. Scott, The Criminologist, Janet, Columbia, Frank, Rocky, Brad, Riff Raff, and Magenta
"Planet Schmanet Janet (Wise Up Janet Weiss)" – Frank
"Planet Hot Dog" – Janet, Brad, and Dr. Scott
"Rose Tint My World" – Columbia, Rocky, Janet, and Brad
"Fanfare/Don't Dream It, Be It" – Frank with Brad, Janet, Rocky, and Columbia
"Wild and Untamed Thing" – Frank with Brad, Janet, Rocky, Columbia, and Riff Raff
"I'm Going Home" – Frank and Chorus
"The Time Warp (Reprise)" – Riff Raff and Magenta
"Super Heroes" (only present in the original UK release) – Brad, Janet, and Chorus
"Science Fiction/Double Feature (Reprise)" – The Lips

tag: ol

text: Release[edit]

text: The film opened in the United Kingdom at Rialto Theater in London 14 August 1975 and in the United States on 26 September at the UA Westwood in Los Angeles, California. It did well at that location, but not elsewhere.[36] Before the midnight screenings' success, the film was withdrawn from its eight opening cities due to very small audiences, and its planned New York City opening on Halloween night was cancelled.[37] Fox re-released the film around college campuses on a double-bill with another rock music film parody, Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise, but again it drew small audiences.[37]

text: With Pink Flamingos (1972) and Reefer Madness (1936) making money in midnight showings nationwide, a Fox executive, Tim Deegan, was able to talk distributors into midnight screenings,[30] starting in New York City on April Fools' Day of 1976.[37] The cult following started shortly after the film began its midnight run at the Waverly Theater in New York City.,[36] then spread to other counties in NYC, and to Uniondale, L.I. Rocky Horror was not only found in the larger cities but throughout the United States where many attendees would get in free if they arrived in costume. The western division of the film's release included The U.A. Cinemas in Fresno and Merced, The Cinema J in Sacramento, California, and the Covell in Modesto. In New Orleans, an early organised performance group was active with the release there as well as in such cities as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Chicago (at the Biograph Theater). Before long nearly every screening of the film was accompanied by a live fan cast.[36]

text: The film is considered to be the longest-running release in film history.[38] It has never been pulled by 20th Century Fox from its original 1975 release, and it continues to play in cinemas.[39][40]

text: Home media[edit]

text: A Super 8 version of selected scenes of the film was made available.[41] In 1983, Ode Records released "The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Audience Par-Tic-I-Pation Album", recorded at the 8th Street Playhouse. The recording consisted of the film's audio and the standardised call-backs from the audience.[42]

text: A home video release was made available in 1987 in the UK.[43] In the US, the film (including documentary footage and extras) was released on VHS in 1990, retailing for $89.95[44] and had its US broadcast premiere on the Fox Broadcasting Company, including audience participation edited into the film, on 25 October 1993.

text: The film was released on DVD in 2000 for the film's 25th anniversary. A 35th Anniversary edition Blu-ray was released in the US on 19 October 2010. The disc includes a newly created 7.1 surround sound mix, the original theatrical mono sound mix, and a 4K/2K image transfer from the original camera negative. In addition, new content featuring karaoke and a fan performance were included.[45]

text: Reception, reaction and legacy[edit]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert noted that when first released, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was "ignored by pretty much everyone, including the future fanatics who would eventually count the hundreds of times they'd seen it". He considered it more a "long-running social phenomenon" than a movie, rating it 2.5 out of 4 stars.[46] Bill Henkin noted that Variety thought that the "campy hijinks" of the film seemed labored, and also mentioned that the San Francisco Chronicle's John Wasserman, who had liked the stage play in London, found the film "lacking both charm and dramatic impact". Newsweek called the film "tasteless, plotless and pointless" in 1978.[47]

text: Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 80% based on 41 reviews.[48] A number of contemporary critics find it compelling and enjoyable because of its offbeat and bizarre qualities; the BBC summarised: "for those willing to experiment with something a little bit different, a little bit outré, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has a lot to offer".[49] The New York Times called it a "low-budget freak show/cult classic/cultural institution" and considered the songs featured in the film to be "catchy".[50] Geoff Andrew of Time Out noted that the "string of hummable songs gives it momentum, Gray's admirably straight-faced narrator holds it together, and a run on black lingerie takes care of almost everything else", rating it 4 out of 5 stars.[51] Dave Kehr of Chicago Reader on the other hand considered the wit to be "too weak to sustain a film" and thought that the "songs all sound the same".[52]

text: In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[53][54]

text: Cult phenomenon[edit]

text: New York City origins[edit]

text: The Rocky Horror Picture Show helped shape conditions of cult film's transition from art-house to grind-house style.[55] The film developed a cult following in 1976 at the Waverly Theatre in New York, which developed into a standardised ritual. According to J. Hoberman, author of Midnight Movies, it was after five months into the film's midnight run when lines began to be shouted by the audience. Louis Farese Jr., a normally quiet teacher who, upon seeing the character Janet place a newspaper over her head to protect herself from rain, yelled, "Buy an umbrella, you cheap bitch". Originally Louis and other Rocky Horror pioneers, including Amy Lazarus, Theresa Krakauskas, and Bill O'Brian, did this to entertain each other, each week trying to come up with something new to make each other laugh. This quickly caught on with other theater goers and thus began this self-proclaimed "counter point dialogue", which became standard practice and was repeated nearly verbatim at each screening.[7] Performance groups became a staple at Rocky Horror screenings due in part to the prominent New York City fan cast.[36] The New York City cast was originally run by former schoolteacher and stand-up comic Sal Piro and his friend Dori Hartley. Hartley who portrayed Dr. Frank N. Furter, was one of several performers, including Will Kohler as Brad Majors, Nora Poses as Janet, and Lilias Piro as Magenta in a flexible rotating cast.[36] The performances of the audience was scripted and actively discouraged improvising, being conformist in a similar way to the repressed characters.[56]

text: On Halloween in 1976, people attended in costume and talked back to the screen, and by mid-1978, Rocky Horror was playing in over 50 locations on Fridays and Saturdays at midnight. Newsletters were published by local performance groups, and fans gathered for Rocky Horror conventions.[37] By the end of 1979, there were twice-weekly showings at over 230 theatres.[37] The National Fan Club was established in 1977 and later merged with the International Fan Club. The fan publication The Transylvanian printed a number of issues, and a semi-regular poster magazine was published as well as an official magazine.[55]

text: Los Angeles, Hollywood[edit]

text: The Los Angeles area performance groups originated in 1977 at the Fox Theatre, where Michael Wolfson won a look-alike contest as Frank N. Furter, and won another at the Tiffany Theater on Sunset Boulevard. Wolfson's group eventually performed in all of the L.A. area theaters screening Rocky Horror, including the Balboa Theater in Balboa, The Cove at Hermosa Beach, and The Sands in Glendale. He was invited to perform at the Sombrero Playhouse in Phoenix, Arizona.

text: At the Tiffany Theatre, the audience performance cast had the theater's full cooperation; the local performers entered early and without charge. The fan playing Frank for this theatre was a transgender performer,[36] D. Garret Gafford, who was out of work in 1978 and trying to raise the funds for a gender reassignment while spending the weekends performing at the Tiffany.[57] Presently, The live action rendition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is available for attendance in various locations in Los Angeles, typically Saturday nights at Midnight.

text: San Francisco[edit]

text: In 1978 San Francisco, Rocky Horror moved from an earlier location to the Strand Theatre located near the Tenderloin on Market Street.[58] The performance group there, Double Feature/Celluloid Jam, was the first to act out and perform almost the entire film, unlike the New York cast at that time. The Strand cast was put together from former members of an early Berkeley group, disbanded due to less than enthusiastic management. Frank N. Furter was portrayed by Marni Scofidio, who, in 1979, attracted many of the older performers from Berkeley. Other members included Mishell Erickson and her twin sister Denise Erickson as Columbia and Magenta, Kathy Dolan as Janet, and Linda "Lou" Woods as Riff Raff. The Strand group performed at two large science fiction conventions in Los Angeles and San Francisco, were offered a spot at The Mabuhay, a local punk club, and performed for children's television of Argentina.[36]

text: Fan following[edit]

text: Rocky Horror is one of the last few western rites left that pertain to the carnivalesque.[59] Annual Rocky Horror conventions are held in varying locations lasting days. Tucson, Arizona has been host a number of times, including 1999 with "El Fishnet Fiesta", and "Queens of the Desert" held in 2006.[60] Vera Dika wrote that to the fans, Rocky Horror is ritualistic and comparable to a religious event, with a compulsive, repeated cycle of going home and coming back to see the film each weekend.[7] The audience call backs are similar to responses in church during a mass.[7] Many theatre troupes exist across the United States that produce shadow-cast performances where the actors play each part in the film in full costume and props as the movie plays on the big screen in a movie theatre.[61][62] These showings are typically once a week or once a month on a Saturday at midnight.

text: The film has a global following and remains popular.[63] Sub cultures such as Rocky Horror have also found a place on the internet.[64] Audience participation scripts for many cities are available to download on the Internet.[25] The internet has a number of Rocky Horror fan run websites with various quizzes and information specializing in different content allowing fans to participate at a unique level.[30]

text: Cultural influence[edit]

text: The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been featured in a number of other feature films and television series over the years. Episodes of The Simpsons, The Venture Bros., The Boondocks, Glee, The Drew Carey Show, That '70s Show, and American Dad! spotlight Rocky Horror, as well as films like Vice Squad, Halloween II (2009), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.[44] The 1980 film Fame featured the audience reciting their callback lines to the screen and dancing the Time Warp,[65] the dance from the stage show and film, which has become a novelty dance at parties.[66]

text: "The Rocky Horror Glee Show" aired on 26 October 2010, as part of the second season of the TV series Glee, which recreated several scenes from the film, including the opening credits. It featured Barry Bostwick and Meat Loaf in cameo roles.[67]

text: "Bisexuality, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Me", by Elizabeth Reba Weise, is a piece in Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out (1991), an anthology edited by Loraine Hutchins and Lani Ka'ahumanu which is one of the seminal books[68][69] in the history of the modern bisexual rights movement.[70]

text: The Rocky Horror Picture Show remains a cultural phenomenon in both the U.S. and U.K.[71][72] Cult film participants are often people on the fringe of society that find connection and community at the screenings[73] although the film attracts fans of differing backgrounds all over the world.[74]

text: Comments and jokes shouted out by the audience can also be seen in the "riffing" of awful films in Mystery Science Theater 3000 and its spinoffs RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic. These have also been featured in theatre appearances by the cast, reacting to movies being shown.

text: Sequels[edit]

text: In 1981, Sharman reunited with O'Brien to do Shock Treatment, a stand-alone feature that was not a direct sequel to the original film.[2] This film reunites characters Brad and Janet and was originally conceived and written to depict the characters filmed in normal settings until the production changed to work around a Screen Actor's Guild strike. The eventual production would now entail the full film being shot entirely within a sound stage and purposely blending that into the story line. Shock Treatment has a cult following but not nearly as strong as the first film, and was a commercial failure in no small part due to the principal cast of Curry, Sarandon and Bostwick not returning.[75]

text: Ten years later, O'Brien wrote another script intended as a direct sequel to the cult classic entitled Revenge of the Old Queen.[76] Producer Michael White had hoped to begin work on the production and described the script as being "in the same style as the other one. It has reflections of the past in it."[77] Although the script has not been published, bootleg copies can be read on the Internet. The script is currently owned by Fox, which produced the two original films. Most individuals associated with the project, including O'Brien, agree that the film will probably never be made, owing to the failure of Shock Treatment and the aging of the cast.[78]

text: In 2014, it was announced that O'Brien would produce Shock Treatment for the theatrical stage. The production will premiere at the King’s Head theatre in Islington, London in the United Kingdom in the spring of 2015.[79][timeframe?]

text: Remake[edit]

text: On 10 April 2015, it was announced that the Fox Broadcasting Company would air a modern-day reimagining of the film, titled The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again.[80][81] On 22 October 2015, it was announced that the role of Dr. Frank N. Furter would be played by actress Laverne Cox.[82] Ryan McCartan and Victoria Justice play the roles of Brad and Janet, alongside Reeve Carney as Riff Raff and singer/model Staz Nair as Rocky.[83] Adam Lambert portrays Eddie.[84] Tim Curry, who portrayed Dr. Frank N. Furter in the film, portrays The Criminologist.[85] On 1 February 2016, it was announced that Broadway veteran Annaleigh Ashford would portray Columbia.[86] On 5 February 2016, Ben Vereen joined the cast as Dr. Everett von Scott.[87]

text: Kenny Ortega, best known for the High School Musical franchise and Michael Jackson's This Is It, directed, choreographed and executive-produced the remake; Lou Adler, who was an executive producer of the original film, has the same role for the new film. The film premiered on Fox on 20 October 2016.[88]


document_title: List of African countries by population

question_text: which country in africa has the largest population

text: List of African countries by population

text: This is a list of African countries and dependent territories sorted by population, which is sorted by the 2015 mid-year normalized demographic projections.

text: Table[edit]

text:
Rank
Country
(or dependent territory)
July 1, 2015
projection[1]
% of
pop.
Average
relative
annual
growth
(%)[2]
Average
absolute
annual
growth
[3]
Estimated
doubling
time
(Years)[4]
Official
figure
(where
available)
Date of
last figure
Source

1
 Nigeria
181,563,000
15.98
2.91
4,731,000
24
173,000,000
2013
Official estimate

2
 Ethiopia
103,764,000
7.81
2.41
2,424,000
29
99,391,000
2015
Official estimate

3
 Egypt
89,125,000
7.68
2.29
2,028,000
31
94,408,000
April 12, 2018
Official population clock

4
 Democratic Republic of the Congo
77,267,000
6.70
3.13
2,390,000
22
86,026,000
July 1, 2015
Official estimate

5
 South Africa
54,957,000
4.77
1.61
873,000
43
54,956,900
July 1, 2015
Official estimate

6
 Tanzania
51,046,000
4.23
2.97
1,414,000
24
51,046,000
2015
Official estimate

7
 Kenya
45,533,000
3.84
2.87
1,196,000
24
45,533,000
2015
Official estimate

8
 Sudan
40,235,000
3.33
3.07
912,000
23
40,235,000
2015
Official estimate

9
 Algeria
39,670,000
3.46
2.07
768,000
34
40,100,000
January 1, 2016
Official estimate

10
 Uganda
37,102,000
3.10
3.09
1,201,000
23
34,856,813
August 28, 2014
Preliminary 2014 census result

11
 Morocco[5]
34,380,000
3.33
1.24
412,000
56
33,337,529
September 1, 2014
Preliminary 2014 census result

12
 Mozambique
28,013,000
2.23
2.74
702,000
26
28,013,000
2015
Official estimate

13
 Ghana
27,414,000
2.40
2.48
621,000
28
27,043,093
2014
Official estimate

14
 Angola
25,326,000
2.20
3.43
839,000
21
24,383,301
May 16, 2014
Preliminary 2014 census result

15
 Ivory Coast
23,126,000
2.02
2.55
451,000
27
22,671,331
May 15, 2014
Preliminary 2014 census result

16
 Madagascar
23,043,000
2.00
2.71
609,000
26
22,434,363
2014
Official estimate

17
 Cameroon
21,918,000
1.90
2.65
565,000
27
21,917,602
2015
Official estimate

18
 Niger
18,880,000
1.64
3.86
701,000
18
17,138,707
December 10, 2012
Final 2012 census result

19
 Burkina Faso
18,450,000
1.60
3.26
582,000
22
18,450,494
2015
Official estimate

20
 Mali
17,796,000
1.54
3.30
568,000
21
14,528,662
April 1, 2009
Final 2009 census result

21
 Malawi
16,307,000
1.41
3.18
502,000
22
16,832,900
July 1, 2016
Official estimate

22
 Zambia
15,474,000
1.34
3.00
451,000
23
15,473,905
2015
Official estimate

23
 Somalia
14,317,996
0.95
1.54
166,000
45
12,316,895
January 1, 2016
Official estimate

24
 Senegal
14,150,000
1.23
2.92
401,000
24
14,354,690
2015
Official estimate

25
 Chad
13,675,000
1.19
3.57
471,000
20
11,039,873
May 20, 2009
Final 2009 census result

26
 Zimbabwe
13,503,000
1.17
1.17
156,000
60
13,061,239
August 17, 2012
Final 2012 census result

27
 South Sudan
12,519,000
1.09
5.95
703,000
12
8,260,490
April 22, 2008
2008 census result

28
 Rwanda
11,324,000
0.98
2.61
288,000
27
10,515,973
August 15, 2012
Final 2012 census result

29
 Tunisia
11,118,000
0.96
1.04
114,000
67
10,982,754
April 23, 2014
Preliminary 2014 census result

30
 Guinea
10,935,000
0.95
2.30
246,000
30
10,628,972
April 2, 2014
Preliminary 2014 census result

31
 Benin
10,782,000
0.93
3.54
369,000
20
10,008,749
May 11, 2013
Final 2013 census result

32
 Burundi
9,824,000
0.85
2.93
280,000
24
9,823,828
2015
Official estimate

33
 Togo
7,065,000
0.61
2.87
197,000
25
6,191,155
November 6, 2010
Final 2010 census result

34
 Eritrea
6,895,000
0.60
5.49
359,000
13
6,536,000
July 1, 2014
Official estimate

35
 Sierra Leone
6,513,000
0.56
2.57
163,000
27
6,348,350
2014
Official estimate

36
 Libya
6,278,000
0.54
1.13
70,000
62
5,298,152
April 15, 2006
2006 census result

37
 Republic of the Congo
4,706,000
0.41
2.98
136,000
24
3,697,490
April 28, 2007
2007 census result

38
 Central African Republic
4,659,080
0.42
2.00
96,000
35
3,859,139
2017
[1]

39
 Liberia
4,046,000
0.35
2.09
83,000
33
3,476,608
March 21, 2008
Final 2008 census result

40
 Mauritania
3,632,000
0.31
2.43
86,000
29
3,718,678
2016
Official estimate

41
 Namibia
2,281,000
0.20
2.01
45,000
35
2,280,700
July 1, 2015
Official estimate

42
 Botswana
2,176,000
0.19
1.92
41,000
36
2,024,904
August 22, 2011
Final 2011 census result

43
 Gambia
2,022,000
0.18
3.27
64,000
22
1,882,450
April 15, 2013
Preliminary 2013 census result[permanent dead link]

44
 Equatorial Guinea
1,996,000
0.17
4.23
81,000
17
1,222,442
July 4, 2015
Preliminary 2015 census result

45
 Lesotho
1,908,000
0.17
0.21
4,000
330
1,894,194
2011
Official estimate

46
 Gabon
1,873,000
0.16
1.85
34,000
38
1,802,278
October 5, 2013
Preliminary 2013 census result

47
 Guinea-Bissau
1,788,000
0.16
2.58
45,000
27
1,530,673
2015
Official estimate

48
 Mauritius
1,263,000
0.11
0.16
2,000
437
1,261,208
July 1, 2014
Official estimate

49
 Swaziland
1,119,000
0.10
1.18
13,000
59
1,119,375
2015
Official estimate

50
 Djibouti
961,000
0.08
2.67
25,000
26
864,618
July 1, 2011
Official estimate

51
 Réunion (France)
853,000
0.07
0.71
6,000
98
840,974
January 1, 2013
Official estimate

52
 Comoros
783,000
0.07
2.62
20,000
27
806,200
July 1, 2016
Official estimate

53
 Cape Verde
525,000
0.05
1.35
7,000
52
491,875
June 16, 2010
Final 2010 census result

54
Western Sahara[6]
509,000
0.04
1.80
9,000
39
510,713
September 2, 2014
Preliminary 2014 census result

55
 Mayotte (France)
229,000
0.02
2.69
6,000
26
212,600
August 21, 2012
2012 census result

56
 São Tomé and Príncipe
194,000
0.02
2.65
5,000
27
179,200
May 13, 2012
Final 2012 census result

57
 Seychelles
97,000
0.01
1.04
1,000
67
90,945
August 26, 2010
Final 2010 census result

58
 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (UK)
4,000
<0.01
0.0
0
-
5,633
June 2016
2016 census result

Total
1,153,308,000
100.00
2.68
30,155,000
26

tag: table

text: African population by country (top 8).