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[Wycliffite New Testament], John 1:1
Language: Middle English.
Origin: [England: c. 1400].
Description: Illuminated manuscript on parchment. 164 leaves. 27 x 19 cm. Double columns of 43 lines. Textblock: 21 x 13.5 cm.
Binding: Bound in London (?) c. 1580, for "H.S.", probably by the "MacDurnan Gospels Binder" in dark brown calf over wooden boards. Heavily ornamented, gold tooled. About the binding
Comments: This Middle English translation of the New Testament draws on both the A and the B Wycliff versions circulating in the fourteenth century. It was written in an English gothic bookhand with black, red, and blue inks. The volume bears marginal notes in another hand. End leaves include 16th-century notes on plant husbandry.
Decoration: Illuminated Gothic initials "M" and "T" and bar borders ending in knotwork corners decorated in gold, red, blue, and purple paint on folio 2r. Some paint has offset onto facing blank. Large versal initials in red and blue, with filigree extensions. Headings and initials in red and blue throughout.
Provenance: (1) "H.S." (Henry Spelman? 16th century). (2) Bernard Quaritch, Ltd., London, 1970. (3) Elizabeth Perkins Prothro, Wichita Falls, purchased 1970. (4) Bridwell Library, Gift of Elizabeth Perkins Prothro, 1996 (Prothro B-281).
Bibliography:
Bridwell Library. The Bible: 100 Landmarks from the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Collection: A Guide to the Inaugural Exhibition in the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries. Dallas, TX: Bridwell Library, 1990.
Gewirtz, Isaac. The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection: A Checklist. Dallas, TX: Bridwell Library, 1996.
Haluska-Rausch, Elizabeth with contributions by Eric White. The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Collection at Bridwell Library, 1996-2006. Bridwell Library, 2006.
Stephen Shepherd. "A Scribe-Grafter at Work: Middle English
Horticultural Notes in Dallas, Bridwell Library, MS 7." Dallas, TX, 2004.
Wycliffite Manuscript: the New Testament. Digital Facsimile of the Bridwell Manuscript. Commentary by Fred C. Robinson. Oakland, CA: Octavo, 1999.
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