London father and son printers who, as royal stationers and printers to Queen Elizabeth and King James I, produced both the first English edition of the Geneva Bible (1575) and the first edition of the King James Version (1611). Christopher obtained the exclusive patent for all state printing including religious books. He and his agents produced some seventy-two editions of the Bible between 1575 and 1599.
Robert obtained his father’s royal patent at the latter’s death and continued to print Bibles, prayer-books, statutes and proclamations, as well as all books in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and all charts and maps. In addition to the first edition of the King James Bible he was responsible for the so-called wicked Bible of 1631 which rendered the seventh commandment, ‘Thou shalt commit adultery’ (probably the most famous omission in history)
The Barker company (now Barker & Howard) still produces navigational books and is one of London’s oldest firms, said to have started before 1490. An evangelical family are part owners.