General Prologue of the Wycliffe Bible and finished before January or February 1397. The "General Prologue" and the later version of the New Testament portion of the Wycliffe Bible, done after 1395, are attributed to Purvey as the main translator and editor/writer. The earlier version of the Wycliffe Bible, done around 1382, is attributed to John Wycliffe as the main translator and editor/writer. There are 250 Wycliffe Bibles that survive today in various degrees of completeness. It is estimated that about twenty-one contain or might have had the complete Wycliffe Bible (also known as the English Wycliffite Bible or the Lollard Bible). There are 89 Wycliffe
General Prologue of the Wycliffe Bible General Prologue of the Wycliffe Bible The General Prologue of the Wycliffe Bible, also the Great Prologue of the Wycliffe Bible, is a 15-chapter explanation, generally attributed to John Purvey, of translation procedures in his later version of the Wycliffe Bible translation done originally by John Wycliffe in 1382–1384. The Gospels and some other books within the New Testament were likely circulated around 1388, before the "General Prologue" was written. John Wycliffe did not participate in the writing of the "General Prologue" since he died in 1384 and the "General Prologue" was not started until about January or February 1395