W.
R. Cooper, ed.
The Wycliffe New Testament (1388): an edition in
modern
spelling, with an introduction, the original prologues, and the Epistle
to the Laodiceans.
London: British Library/Tyndale Society, 2002.
xv,528pp.
Hardback ISBN 0712347283.
Publisher's
recommended price £20.00
Although
John Wycliffe
did not actually translate the Bible that is named after him, his
preaching
and writings inspired his followers, the Lollards, to translate the
Bible
from the Latin Vulgate into English. Wycliffe, an intellectual
Augustinian
who taught at Oxford University in the 1370s, believed that the centre
of all Christian practice must be the Bible and that every person
should
have access to the scriptures in their own tongue. Wycliffe's views
brought
into question the hierarchical practices of the Church, and his
followers
were persecuted by both Church and State. Their first translation,
known
as the Early Version of the Wycliffe Bible, made the text of the whole
Bible available to the people of Britain in their own language for the
first time.
The
text of the
New Testament presented here, known as the Later Version, appeared
around
1388, four years after Wycliffe's death. Its impact was so great that
in
1401 a statute was issued banning it upon pain of death. Lollards were
persecuted for their beliefs and their ownership of forbidden texts.
These
efforts, however, failed to stop reproduction of the texts and scribes
continued to copy them faithfully, risking great dangers to themselves.
Even after the advent of authorised, printed English Bibles in the
sixteenth
century, handwritten copies of the Wycliffe Bible were still cherished
and read.
This
edition of
the Wycliffe New Testament, published in association with the Tyndale
Society,
has been rendered into modern spelling and punctuation, so that over
600
years later, the modern reader can enjoy this remarkable text for
themselves.
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