The Old English Heptateuch is a translation of much of the first seven books of the Old Testament from the Latin Vulgate into Old English, done in the first years of the eleventh century. It is the earliest known attempt atcontinuous translation of the Old Testament into English, and is of particular interest as a witness to the dynamic, but not yet fully understood relationship between Latin and the vernacular in the monasteries of late Anglo-Saxon England. The Heptateuch is a composite work, but much of the translation was done by Abbot AElfric of Eynsham. The edition includes his preface to the translation of Genesis, and also his Libellus de veteri testamento et novo, a tract in which he presents an exegetical survey of the Bible.
This first volume contains the general Introduction and the text; volume II will provide the notes and glossary. This new critical edition, based onBodleian Library MS Laud misc. 509, replaces the EETS’ original series 160, edited by S.J. Crawford and based on a different manuscript; it collates manuscripts and adds readings not then known.

Richard Marsden is Senior Lecturer in the School of English Studies at the University of Nottingham.