It is said, with not a little probability, that the Vatican Manuscript (or "Codex Vaticanus"), the "Codex Sinaiticus," and many manuscript copies of the Bible no longer extant, were prepared at the instance of the Emperor Constantine, who, on his conversion to the Christian faith was anxious to spread the message of the Bible among his subjects.
In any event, it seems that both these famous codices do date from about the middle of the fourth century—though Westcott and Hort and other scholars are inclined to consider the Vatican Manuscript as the more important of the two, contending that it represents "more than any other the original text of the New Testament."
The "Codex Vaticanus," as its name implies, is preserved in the archives of the Vatican, and we know it to have been there before the year 1475, the date of the first official catalogue of the papal library. It was still at the Vatican when our Authorized Version of the Bible was prepared in England, but unfortunately the King James' translators did not have access to this priceless Biblical treasure. Two centuries later, in the year 1809, the manuscript appeared in Paris, having apparently been carried off from Italy with other precious records, as the spoils of war, during one of Napoleon's campaigns. During its sojourn in Paris it was examined by a Professor from Tubingen, who seems to have been the first to recognize its early date, and to realize its real importance. Eventually it was returned to the Vatican Library, where for many years scholars were not permitted to give it the minute and accurate consideration it deserved, and it was not until almost the close of last century that a photographic edition of the text made it available for study throughout the world.
