Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-07-17

"This brook hath conveyed ri,
into the Avon, Avon into The 80. 1oa
Severn into the narrow seas tbse 'sfa
the main ocean; and thus the s.I mo
Wycliffe are the emblem of his 49,. 49,. q
whick is now dispersed all Inc -, wa
OVER ""a
To return to WycliiTe's .sNewe r..
mente.n 1t is an enduring monu,. tesA.
the patient industry and artistic st;Il q
the clever penman who executed 4. ia y,
it is source both OF wonder ana .a aug
ration to think that there must bavo Sau
sent forth hundreds Of similar manH.s ~1a
copies of not only the ssNewe ny
mente," but of the whole Biblel W..
or by whom these well-nigh motcblo''
volumes were produced is now mast a.
ing out. 1t is possible that IN the
clusion of some of the religious hons. !,
the period there were "poor nries,. y
skilled in the art of "black letter,w witt.
to whom the art of transcribino wes ~ q,
little effort. But, whether so or not tS'
fact remains that these copies of H.
Scriptures were issued, and written :.
legibly that ''simple men, y if they conS
read at all, could understand them II
fThe Newe Testamente'' In Mr. Willo,e,
possession is fair sample Of these worE,
and doubtless it is, writing at that perio1
must have been elevated into fine an
The book is about DENY octave IN si1s
some eight inches by five inches. II eon.
tains some 200 or $50 leaves of parebmen,
and these are of such uniform thinne,,
as to be easily mistaken for ordinaT
paper. The title page of the book /,
wanting. The contents do not nm
throughout in the same order as the mod.
ern New Testament, though commeneino
with the Gospels and the Apocalypse
This latter is entitled the "Apocalips oi
Joon," and the Acts as aye Dedis If
Apostalis.n The divisions of the text
throughout the work are simnlv
indicated by colored initial letters
and the verses are not Numbered
the writing being continuous. After
the Apocalypse follow some helps TO re.
ligion, such as the first lines of the Ten
Commandments and the Seven Virtues
these again are succeeded by a table Of
lessons for Sundays, Wednesdays. and
Saints Days throughout the year an er.
eeedingly 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 50 cd.
mirably shaped and so uniform in sz.
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 i
page lightly but accurately ruled ready
10 be written upon. The division between
the two columns in each page is about
quarter of an inch in width; and this ap.
pears to have been made to afford spacs
for the display of the beautiful initial
letters, which. drawn in violet ink
with red ink Communications, run
throughout the work. And wonderful
specimens of penmanship these initial
letters are; each, in fact, is a work ofart
There would seem to be but few erronn
the transcription. In the seventh chapter
of the Apocalypse, two omissions appear
at the side of the page Possibly the
transcriber, nearing the close of his work,
was little tired if so, his previous labon
should secure for him dissolution
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 Lewis's History Of this Translation
Of the Bible, p. g. See Stripes Memoir
ais Ed. 9. b. |. c. 81 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 ties.
titieth on the contrary. Queen Catherine
Tudor the last wife of King Henry VII,
caused Erasmus paraphrase to be Trans.
lated into English; Queen Mary herself
translated into English Erasmus para'
phrase upon st. John. - The Brighton
Herald, Eng.