Highlights of the Exhibition
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection
at
Bridwell Library
1996-2006
September 7-November 18, 2006  

First English Translation
of the New Testament

[New Testament in Middle English, Wycliffite version]. Manuscript on parchment. [England: possibly London, c. 1400–1425].

Attributed to John Wycliffe († 1384) or his followers, this text represents the first vernacular English Bible.  The first translations emerged in the 1380s and enjoyed a brief period of toleration, before the Archbishop of Canterbury outlawed the Wycliffite Bible in 1407. The Wycliffite Bible holds an unusual place in the history of the transmission of Biblical texts, since although it was condemned, it was never suppressed, and rapidly spread throughout England. It is probable that this Bible, with its rich illuminations and careful script, did not belong to a religious rebel, but rather to an Englishman or woman of some means, orthodox piety, but limited Latinity. The small letters (a-g) and vertical tick marks in the margins correspond to a lectionary at the back of the book which in turn corresponds to the Latin Mass. It is estimated that approximately 250 manuscripts of the Wycliffite translation survive into the present day. John 1:1.
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