The beginning of the Gospel of John in a copy of John Wycliffe's translation of the Bible. This copy was made in the late 14th century and was pocket sized, probably for the use of a wandering preacher, perhaps a Lollard. The edition contained only segments of the New Testament. This copy eventually worked its way to Wycliffe biographer John Lewis (1675-1747).
The gospel begins at the large, decorated "I" and reads: ‘In þe bigynnyng was/þe word & þe word/was at god/& god was/þe word.’
The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain worldwide due to the date of death of its author (if it is was published outside of the U.S. and the author has been dead for over 70 years), or due to its date of publication (if it was first made public in the U.S. before 1923). Therefore this photographical reproduction is also in the public domain, at least in the United States (see Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp.), in Germany, and in many other countries.
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