John 1 Medieval Manuscript: The Incarnation of Jesus Christ c.1300s Error Leaf

A 14th Century Manuscript of John 1 - The Incarnation of Jesus Christ, on vellum, probably produced in Paris. Gothic script.

 

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This vellum leaf, containing John 1:4-13, is a remarkable survival, preserving a striking variant text with a contemporary medieval correction. It was most likely intended for decoration within a larger Gospel manuscript, but was discarded by the parent scriptorium after the scribe committed a notable copying error. Such “error leaves” are exceptionally rare, and provide a superb teaching aid for illustrating the processes of scribal practice and textual transmission of the New Testament in the Middle Ages.

The error occurs in John 1:7-8. The scribe first copied the opening of verse 7, but then inserted the whole of verse 8, followed by the second half of verse 7, before repeating verse 8 in full a second time. This duplication was corrected contemporaneously, with the mistaken text scored through in red ink. The variant reading is not recorded in any critical edition of the Latin Vulgate New Testament, and is plainly an error of transcription, though the punctuation might suggest that the repetition of verse 8 was initially deliberate.

 

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The text:

[Latin original]:

RECTO: [in ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux] hominum et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt. Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat Ioannes. Hic venit in testimoniu(m) perhiberet de lumine. Non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium p(er) hiberet de lumine ut omnes crederent per illum. Non erat ille lux, sed ut testimoniu(m) p(er) hiberet de lumine. Erat lux vera qu(a)e illuminat omnen hominem venientem in hu(n)c...

VERSO: mundum. In mundo erat, et mundus per ip(s)um factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit. In propria venit, et sui eum non recperunt. Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, his qui credunt in nomine eius: qui non ex sanguinibus, neq(ue) ex voluntate carnis, neq(ue) ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt.

 

[English translation]:

RECTO: [Life was in Him and Life was the light] of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent by God, whose name was John. He arrived as a witness to offer testimony about the light. He was not the Light, but he was to offer testimony about the Light. He was not the Light, but he was to offer testimony about the Light, so that all would believe through him. He was not the Light, but he was to offer testimony about the Light. 

VERSO: The true Light, which illuminates every man, was coming into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not recognise Him. He went to His own, and His own did not accept Him. Yet whoever did accept Him, those who believed in His Name, He gave them the power to become the sons of God. These are born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

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Size: 117 x 161 mm (approx.)