Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-07-17

"This brook hath conveyed his ashes
into the Avon, Avon into the Severn,
Severn into the narrow seas. they into
the main ocean; and thus the ashes of
Wycliffe are the emblem Of his doctrine,
which is now dispersed all the world
over"
To return to Wyclilre's 'sNewe Testa-
mente" Il is an enduring monument Of
the patient industry and artistic skill of
the clever penman who executed IL; and
it is source both of wonder and admi- Z
ration to think that there must have been
sent forth hundreds of similar manuscript
copies Of not only the ''Newe Testa-
mente, but Of the whole Biblel Where
or by whom these well-nigh mGtehless
volumes were produced is now past find
ing out. II is possible that in the Sc
clusion of some of the religious houses of
the period there were ''poor priests"
skilled in the art of ''black letter. writing,
to whom the art of transcribing was but
little effort. But, whether so or not, the
fact remains that these copies of the
Scriptures were issued, and written so
legibly that ''simple men, " If they could
read at all, northumberland them. If
''The Newe Testamente'' in Mr.. Willett's
possession is fair sample Of these works.
and doubtless it is, writing at that period
must have been elevated into fine art.
The book is about deny octave in size,
some eight inches by FIVE inches. 1t con-
tains some 200 or $50 leaves of parchment.
and these are Of such uniform thinness
as to be easily mistaken for ordinary
paper. The title page of the book is
wanting. The contents do not run
throughout in the same order as the mod
ern New Testament, though commencing
with the Gospels and the Apocalypse.
This latter is entitled the ''Apocalips of
Joon," and the Acts as eye Dedis of
Apostalis." The divisions of the text
throughout the work are simply
indicated by colored initial letters;
and the verses are not numbered,
the writing being continuous. After
the Apocalypse follow some helps to re-
igion, such as the first lines of the Ten
Commandments and the Seven Virtues;
these again are succeeded by table of
lessons for Sundays, Wednesdays, and
Saints Days throughout the year, an ex-
ceedingly beautiful specimen of arrange
ment and of black-letter writing. The
pages of the Testament itself are divided
into two columns, each containing about
forty lines. These lines are throughout
equi-distant, and the letters are so ad-
mirably shaped and so uniform in size
that, at first glance, they might be re-
garded as ordinary printing. The writ
ing was evidently Systematically done;
and one gets clue to this from the fact
that preceding the matter in the book is
page lightly but accurately ruled ready
to be written upon. The division between
the two columns in each page is about a
quarter of an inch in width; and this ap-
pears to have been made to afford space
for the display of the beautiful initial
letters, which, drawn in violet ink
with red ink ornamentations, run
throughout the work. And wonderful
specimens of penmanship these initial
letters are; each, in fact, is work of art.
There would seem to be but few errors in.
the transcription. In the seventh chapter
of the Apocalypse, two omissions appear
q" ehO siuV VI bAic pdSe. IOSSlDly Un6
transcriber, nearing the close of his work,
was little tired; if SO, his previous labors
should secure for him absolution
There are no indications in the book of
its respective possessors during its long
existence. On one of the fly Leaves at the
end is written, in modern handwriting,
''See Lewiss History of this Translation
of the Bible, p. 8. See Stripes Memori-
ais. Ed. 8. b. I. C. g." On another,
evidently of earlier date, 'Some of the
ruder Papists have affirmed that the Scrip
lures were not in our mother tongue be-
fore D. Luther's time, but this book tes-
titieth on the contrary. Queen Catherine
Tudor, the last wife of King Henry VIII,
caused Erasmus paraphrase to be trans
lated into English; Queen Mary herself
translated into English Erasmus para
phrase upon st. John. 1.-THE Brighton
Herald, Eng.