A Concise History of the English Bible has been prepared to provide ministers, teachers, speakers, writers and others with a reliable, compact statement of the essential elements in the great story of the English Bible.

It was first prepared under the title A Ready Reference History of the English Bible, on the occasion of the commemoration of four hundred years of the Printed English Bible (1935), by Miss Margaret T. Hills, M.A., librarian of the American Bible Society. First revised by Miss Hills in 1962 on the occasion of the appearance of the New English Bible, the present revision was prepared by Dr. Erroll F. Rhodes, Assistant Director, Bible Study Helps Department of the American Bible Society, and Dr. Liana Lupas, Curator, American Bible Society Library.

The English Bible before the Invention of Printing

700-1000 Psalterium Davidis Latino-Saxonicum vetus . A Johanne Spelmanno … editum. London: R. Badger, 1640. Old English paraphrases including versions of the Book of Psalms and the Gospels. Printed editions of these texts were published starting in 1571.

ca. 1384 The Wycliffe Version Manuscript of the New Testament copied ca. 1440. Beginning of the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. Earliest English translation of the complete Bible. Prepared by John Wycliffe (ca. 1320-1384) and his followers, including William Middleworth, John Trevisa, and John Purvey. This Bible was based on the Latin Vulgate. It circulated in manuscript throughout the fifteenth century and was first printed in 1850.