New Testament in the translation of John Wycliffe.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Contributor:

Wycliffe, John, -1384, translator.

Ross, T. Edward, former owner.

Standardized Title:

Bible. New Testament. English (Middle English). Wycliffe

Language:

English, Middle (1100-1500)

Latin

Subjects (All):

Catholic Church--Discipline.

Catholic Church.

Discipline.

Catholic Church--Liturgy.

Liturgics.

Bible--English (Middle English)--Versions--Wycliffe.

Bible.

Christian poetry, English (Middle).

Devotional literature, English (Middle).

English literature--Middle English, 1100-1500.

English literature.

English literature--Middle English.

English poetry--Middle English, 1100-1500.

English poetry.

English poetry--Middle English.

Lollards.

Religious poetry, English.

Genre:

codices (bound manuscripts)

Manuscripts, English (Middle) -- 14th century.

Manuscripts, English (Middle) -- 15th century.

Manuscripts, Medieval.

Manuscripts, Renaissance.

Penn Provenance:

Formerly owned by Gilbert, Bishop of Bath and Wells (autograph, f. 1r).

Gift of T. Edward Ross, 1947 (bookplate, inside upper cover).

Physical Description:

239 leaves : parchment ; 185 x 113 (146 x 85) mm bound to 193 x 120 mm

Other Title:

I wonder seiþ Sent Bernard of what order ben oure clerkis for in gedering of worldly goodis þey ben as lewed men.

Whanne þou art stered to don amys behold þisilf and þenk on þis.

Behold þisilf and þenk on þis.

Sacerdos ad digne sumendum corpus.

Memoriale credencium.

Place of Publication:

[England], [late 14th to early 15th century]

Language Note:

Middle English; some works in Latin.

Summary:

Also includes poems and other scriptural, liturgical and devotional works.

Contents:

Selections from a Wycliffite Floretum or Rosarium (f. 1v)

A collection of authorities, including Bernard, Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, and Sts. Peter and Paul, on matters of priestly behavior; inc.: I wonder seiþ Sent Bernard of what order ben oure clerkis for in gedering of worldly goodis þey ben as lewed men (ff. 1v-3v)

A Middle English moral poem; inc.: Whanne þou art stered to don amys bihold þisilf and þenk on þis (f. 4r)

New Testament in the translation of John Wycliffe (ff. 5r-226v)

A short Latin explanation of why the priest prays before distributing the sacrament; inc.: Sacerdos ad digne sumendum corpus (f. 226v)

Fragment of Middle English homiletic treatise Memoriale Credencium (f. 226v)

Six lines from the beginning of the Gospel of John (f. 227v)

A calendar of the lessons [Epistles and Gospels for the liturgical year, after the use of Salisbury] (ff. 228r-236r)

A nine-line poem in Latin hexameters [four lines conform to Hans Walther, Initia Carminum Versuum Medii Aevi Posterioris Latinorum, no. 6348] (f. 237r)

List of the names of all the books of the Bible

Another group of extracts from a Floretum, with summaries of various books of the New Testament (ff. 238r-239r).

Notes:

Ms. codex.

Collation: I², II-XXVIII⁴, XXIX⁴ (-1), XXX⁵, XXXI¹.

Pagination: Parchment, i (near contemporary parchment) + 239 + i (near contemporary parchment) leaves; [i-viii], 1-54, [55-470]. Individual books of the New Testament paginated independently in a later hand.

Layout: Written in two columns of 37 lines; frame-ruled in ink.

Script: The text of the New Testament is written in a single hand. Many of the other portions are written in different hands, all varieties of Anglicana script.

Decoration: Extensive use of red for headings and filigree; blue for initials.

Binding: 16th-century calf, with a gilded design.

Origin: Written in England; late 14th to early 15th century.

Description taken from Josephine A. Koster's master's thesis on this manuscript (copy on file in the library).

Marginal glosses in Old English and Latin on ff. 42v, 46v. and 212r.

The Middle English poem on f. 4r observes poetic lineation; T. Edward Ross erroneously concluded that it was "written in prose," possibly because of cropping that destroyed some line endings (A Catalogue of the T. Edward Ross Collection, pp. 27-28).

The traditional prologue to the Epistle of James has been transferred to the Epistles of Peter. Ross mistakenly concludes that this prologue "is not found in any of the manuscripts examined by Forshall and Madden" (A Catalogue of the T. Edward Ross Collection, p. 28).

The autograph of Gilbert, Bishop of Bath and Wells, appears on f. 1r. This office was held by two men named Gilbert: Gilbert Bourne, in office 1554-1560; and Gilbert Berkeley, in office 1560-1581.

Thirteenth folio before the end has been partly cut out; final four folios are badly torn with loss of text.

Cited in:

Described in Zacour, Norman P. and Hirsch, Rudolf. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to 1800 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965), p. 50 (Ms. English 6).

A Catalogue of the T. Edward Ross Collection of Bibles Presented to the University of Pennsylvania Library (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Library, 1947), pp. 27-28.

Publications about:

Koster, Josephine A. An edition of the Middle English moral verses in University of Pennsylvania Ms. English 6. Master's Thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, [n.d.]. A photocopy of this thesis is on file in the library. In addition to analyzing the manuscript and its contents in general, Koster's thesis contains a text edition and discussion of the Middle English poem on f. 4r, "Whanne þou are stered to don amys bihold þisilf and þenk on þis." Koster seems to regard "Bihold þisilf and þenk on þis" as the title.

Peikola, Matti. "Tables of lections in manuscripts of the Wycliffite Bible." In Form and function in the late medieval Bible. Eyal Poleg and Laura Light, editors. Boston: Brill, 2013, p. 351-378.

Cited as:

New Testament in the translation of John Wycliffe (Ms. Codex 201). Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.

OCLC:

155962821