>> имела в виду даже более сложную игру смыслов.

Да, конечно, это вполне возможно. Я даже подозреваю, хотя доказательств у меня нет - надо в библиотеке в словарь глянуть - что словосочетание и произошло от той самой Книги, но уже давно означает просто "по написанному".

Вот, пожалуйста:

Which book? Well, the Bible sounds like a good guess. That may be so, as the early meaning of the phrase was 'I swear it to be true', as in the oaths taken in courtrooms. An example of that usage, is recorded in The Times, January 1833:

"Patience in troth! By the book, it's myself is the moral o' patience!"
(http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/82700.html)

Оттуда же, из обсуждения:

>> >> >> >> I believed that it was used earlier than the 1800's- In Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", Juliet tells Romeo that he kisses "By The Book"- could this possibly be the real origin of the saying?

>> >> >> At least one reference -- The Dictionary of Cliches by John Rogers -- agrees with you. That "by the book" meaning "strictly according to the rules" was first used in this play.

>> >> Shakespeare also used the phrase in Hamlet. Hamlet asks if the grave being dug is for a man or a woman, and is told "no" to both. The gravedigger then says it is for "one who *was* a woman, but...she's dead". Hamlet then remarks to his friend Horatio, "I see we must speak by the book, or equivocation will undo us".

>> Some scholars think Juliet, little 14-year-old vixen that she is, uses "by the book" as a way to chide Romeo for insufficient amorous passion in his kissing. (Considering that both parts were presumably acted by males, a relative dearth of passion is understandable.)