The Complete Wycliffe Bible: Old Testament, New Testament & Apocrypha: Text Edition

by John Wycliffe

In making this edition of Wycliffe’s monumental work the Publisher has had to make a number of decisions that affect the final outcome of the work. Some of these decisions may be welcomed by the reading public and some perhaps not. All of the decisions were made with the reader in mind. Our intention was to produce an edition of Wycliffe’s Bible translation that was reasonably priced and to do this it must be in one volume. This has meant choosing a large paper format. Other smaller sized editions are over 800 pages. We chose a larger paper size that results in around 250 pages less. We chose a font that is recognized as easily readable at smaller sizes. Adobe Garamond, 10 pt. was selected. We have tested it and have not found it to be an uncomfortable reading size. If you have reasonable eyesight, you will not need a magnifying glass, as has been reportedly needed for other modern reprints. We hope you like it. Some will complain that we have not inserted indents and paragraphing. Again, this is a massive volume and we have tried to produce a book that is within one volume so that it is commercially viable for us and you the reader. It has also meant not including any of the introductions by Wycliffe, Jerome and others, or notes that were a part of the original. Hence the subtitle “Text Edition”. We understand this will not be to everyone’s liking, but we are limited, by the printer, to how many pages our books can be. At the size we chose we are almost at capacity. At a smaller size we could have done over 800 pages, but we still would have had to cram the same amount of text in. So the problem would be the same. The only way around this problem would have been to produce two large volumes and at this time we do question the viability of such an undertaking. However, if it is clear that there is a great demand for it, we may bring out a new two volume edition with that additional text. This may also enable us to insert indents and paragraphing. The introductions and notes will greatly enrich your understanding of Wycliffe’s Bible, but for now you will have to look elsewhere for them. This work was first produced in the late Middle Ages. The language is therefore extremely archaic. So much so that some of the letters have evolved and changed since then. This edition contains all modern letters. But please note it does not contain modern spelling. It is not a “Modern Edition”. The yogh (which looks like ȝ) for example has been replaced as necessary. Purists will complain, but we hope for the average reader this will not present much of a problem.

Genres: Banned Books

2017 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 9, 2016

About the author

John Wycliffe (also spelled Wyclif, Wycliff, Wiclef, Wicliffe, Wickliffe; c. 1331 - 1384) was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher at Oxford in England. He was an influential dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers were known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached anticlerical and biblically-centred reforms. The Lollard movement was a precursor to the Protestant Reformation. He has been characterized as the evening star of scholasticism and the Morning Star of the Reformation. He was one of the earliest opponents of papal authority over secular power.

Wycliffe was also an early advocate for translation of the Bible into the common language. He completed his translation, now known as Wycliffe's Bible, directly from the Vulgate into vernacular English in the year 1382. It is probable that he personally translated the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and it is possible he translated the entire New Testament, while his associates translated the Old Testament. Wycliffe's Bible appears to have been completed by 1384, with additional updated versions being done by Wycliffe's assistant John Purvey and others in 1388 and 1395.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wyc...