The Wycliffite Bible, the first comprehensive translation of the Bible in English, survives in greater numbers than any other Middle English work. Yet the great majority of the more than 250 manuscripts catalogued as Wycliffite bibles do not contain the full canon of scriptures. While many contain the full New Testament, others include only select books or even select chapters of scripture and combine those translations with exegetical, devotional, or pastoral texts. This article explores how producers and readers took apart and reassembled Wycliffite translations to open up varied interpretive questions and different modes of textual engagement. It first presents a brief survey of books catalogued as Wycliffite bibles, highlighting the diverse forms in which Wycliffite translation appears. It then shows common patterns of reading, evident across a range of books, that seek to integrate scripture with Christian traditions and to find thematic coherence across biblical texts.
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