Photos: Hidden Text Discovered in England’s Oldest Bible

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By Stephanie Pappas
published

Title Page

Title Page

(Image credit: Copyright Lambeth Palace Library)

Marginalia visible through the title page of the 1535 Latin Bible.

In the margins

In the margins

(Image credit: Copyright Lambeth Palace Library)

Marginal notes in the Latin Bible, copied from the "Great Bible" — the first authorized English-language Bible in England. These notes represent tables of lessons, which provide a schedule of texts to be read on certain days, such as Easter. The owner of this Bible was clinging to Latin prayer, but transitioning to English lessons, highlighting the gradual on-the-ground change during the English Reformation.

Stephanie Pappas
Stephanie Pappas
Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.