Collection items

14th-century Wycliffite Bible

Manuscript Created date: 1375–1425

This is a manuscript copy of the ‘Wycliffite Bible’ – the first complete copy of the Bible in the English language. Why...

15th-century Wycliffite Bible

Manuscript, Illuminated manuscript Created date: Early 15th century

A manuscript containing the Later Version of the Middle English translation of the Bible produced by followers of the re...

A third century fragment from Gospel of Thomas

Papyrus Created date: end of the 2nd century–3rd century

Unearthed in the rubbish tips of the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, south of Cairo, this fragment from a papyrus...

Alphonso Psalter

Manuscript, Illuminated manuscript, Parchment Codex Created date: c. 1284–1316

This manuscript was begun for Prince Alphonso (b. 1273, d. 1284), son of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, who was betrot...

Armenian Gospel book

Manuscript, Illuminated manuscript Created date: 1608

A lavish copy of the Gospels in Armenian, made in the Persian capital of Isfahan, in 1608. When did Christianity spread ...

Armenian Prayer Scroll

Scroll, Manuscript Created date: c. 1655

Armenian Prayer Scroll

Askew Gospel Book

Manuscript Created date: 12th century

This 12th-century Gospel book (now divided into two volumes) was copied by the monk Gregory. A note at the end of the se...

Bedford Hours

Manuscript Created date: c. 1410–1430

A lavishly illuminated Book of Hours, gifted to Henry VI by the Duke and Duchess of Bedford. The Bedford Hours is regar...

Book of Common Prayer

Printed book

The first English Book of Common Prayer, published in 1549. Who wrote it? In September 1548 a committee under the presid...

Chinese Torah – Kaifeng Torah

Manuscript, Scroll Created date: c. 1643–1663

This scroll was specially prepared for one of the farthest flung and most remarkable religious communities of history: t...

Codex Alexandrinus

Manuscript Created date: 5th century

Copied in the 5th century, Codex Alexandrinus is one of the three early Greek manuscripts that preserve both the Old and...

Codex Sinaiticus

Manuscript Created date: 2nd quarter of the 4th century–3rd quarter of the 4th century

Despite its rather austere appearance, Codex Sinaiticus is a treasure beyond price. Produced in the middle of the 4th ce...

Complutensian Polyglott Bible

Printed book

The so-called ‘Complutensian Polyglot Bible’ is the first of the great multi-lingual editions of the complete Bible prod...

Cotton Genesis

Manuscript Created date: 5th century–6th century

The Cotton Genesis is one of the great treasures of the British Library. Created probably in Egypt in the 5th or 6th cen...

Coverdale Bible

Printed book

A 1535 copy of Miles Coverdale’s translation of the Bible. Was Coverdale’s Bible illegal? Following the publication of...