Bernard Meehan

Among the very finest of all insular manuscripts, the Book of Kells receives magnificent treatment in this beautiful new study. Illustrated in full colour throughout, the book also contains over 80 actual size reproductions of the manuscript's most important and spectacular pages. But this volume is about much more than the pictures; Bernard Meehan's comprehensive text provides a in-depth exploration of the manuscript, the circumstances of its production and historical context, the text and its interrelationship with the decoration, as well as the complex symbolism expressed therein. Further chapters analyse technical aspects, the identification of different scribal hands, and the physical materials used in the book.

The Book of Kells

Claire Breay

The St Cuthbert Gospel (formerly known as the Stonyhurst Gospel) is the earliest intact European book and a landmark in the cultural history of western Europe. Now dated to the early eighth century, the manuscript contains a beautifully written copy of the Gospel of John in Latin and is famous for the craftsmanship and condition of its contemporary decorated leather binding. Found in Cuthbert's coffin when it was opened in Durham Cathedral in 1104, the Gospel was acquired for the national collection in 2012 after a major fundraising campaign. This new collection of essays is the most substantial study of the book since the 1960s. It includes detailed commentary on Cuthbert in his historical context; the codicology, text, script, and medieval history of the manuscript; the structure and decoration of the binding; the other relics found in Cuthbert's coffin; and the post-medieval ownership of the book.This book significantly revises the existing scholarship on one of the British Library's most recent acquisitions which is now one of its greatest treasures.

Studies on the Insular Manuscript of the Gospel of John (BL, Additional MS 89000)

The St Cuthbert Gospel

Keeper of Manuscripts Bernard Meehan takes us on a guided tour of The Book of Durrow, an early medieval Gospel book regarded as second only to the Book of Kells.

Bernard Meehan

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