King James Version in a letter from 1855. The next year King James Bible, with no possessive, appears as a name in a Scottish source. In the United States, the "1611 translation" (actually editions following the standard text of 1769, see below) is generally known as the King James Version today. The followers of John Wycliffe undertook the first complete English translations of the Christian scriptures in the 14th century. These translations were banned in 1409 due to their association with the Lollards. The Wycliffe Bible pre-dated the printing press but was circulated very widely in manuscript form, often inscribed with a date
General Prologue of the Wycliffe Bible Bibles that contain just the New Testament. There are fifteen Wycliffe Bibles that have just the four Gospels of the New Testament. There are four copies of the Wycliffe Bible that comprise only the letters from the Apostles to the Christians commonly called the Epistles. There are known to be nine (Deanesly says 10) hand written copies of the "General Prologue" that survive today. There is one that is a manuscript by itself, while there are six attached to the later version of Wycliffe Bibles. There is wording in the "General Prologue" that give a probable time of writing of