Editing Book of Kells (section)

==History==
===Origin===
[[File:KellsFol292rIncipJohn.jpg|thumb|The Book of Kells, (folio 292r), [[Wiktionary:circa|circa]] 800, showing the lavishly decorated text that opens the [[Gospel of John]]]]
[[File:LindisfarneFol27rIncipitMatt.jpg|thumb|[http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/lindisfarne/accessible/images/page10full.jpg Folio 27r] from the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]] contains the incipit ''Liber generationis'' of the [[Gospel of Matthew]]. Compare this page with the corresponding page from the Book of Kells (see [[:File:KellsFol029rIncipitMatthew.jpg|here]]), especially the form of the ''Lib'' monogram.]]
The Book of Kells is one of the finest and most famous, and also one of the latest, of a group of manuscripts in what is known as the [[Insular art|Insular style]], produced from the late 6th through the early 9th centuries in [[monastery|monasteries]] in Britain and Ireland and in continental monasteries with [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Hiberno-Scottish]] or [[Anglo-Saxon mission|Anglo-Saxon]] foundations.<ref name="Henry74">Henry 1974, 150.</ref> These manuscripts include the [[Cathach of St. Columba]], the [[Ambrosiana Orosius]], [[Durham Cathedral Library A. II. 10. Gospel Book Fragment|fragmentary Gospel]] in the [[Durham Dean and Chapter Library]] (all from the early 7th century), and the [[Book of Durrow]] (from the second half of the 7th century). From the early 8th century come the [[Durham Gospels]], the [[Echternach Gospels]], the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]] (see illustration at right), and the [[Lichfield Gospels]]. Among others, the [[St. Gall Gospel Book]] belongs to the late 8th century and the [[Book of Armagh]] (dated to 807–809) to the early 9th century.<ref>All manuscripts and dates discussed in Henry 1974, 150–151.</ref><ref>Brown 1980, 74.</ref>

Scholars place these manuscripts together based on similarities in artistic style, script, and textual traditions. The fully developed style of the ornamentation of the Book of Kells places it late in this series, either from the late 8th or early 9th century.<ref>Welch 2000, 34.</ref> The Book of Kells follows many of the iconographic and stylistic traditions found in these earlier manuscripts. For example, the form of the decorated letters found in the [[incipit]] pages for the Gospels is surprisingly consistent in Insular Gospels. Compare, for example, the incipit pages of the [[Gospel of Matthew]] [[:File:LindisfarneFol27rIncipitMatt.jpg|in the Lindisfarne Gospels]] and [[:File:KellsFol029rIncipitMatthew.gif|in the Book of Kells]], both of which feature intricate decorative knotwork patterns inside the outlines formed by the enlarged initial letters of the text. (For a more complete list of related manuscripts, see: [[List of Hiberno-Saxon illustrated manuscripts]]).<ref>Calkins discusses the major manuscripts in turn pp.&nbsp;30–92, as does Nordenfalk.</ref>

The Abbey of Kells in [[Kells, County Meath]], had been founded, or refounded, from [[Iona Abbey]], construction taking from 807 until the consecration of the church in 814.<ref>Meyvaert, 11</ref> The manuscript's date and place of production have been subjects of considerable debate. Traditionally, the book was thought to have been created in the time of [[St Columba|Columba]],<ref>Sullivan 1952, 19–20.</ref> possibly even as the work of his own hands. This tradition has long been discredited on [[paleography|paleographic]] and stylistic grounds: most evidence points to a composition date {{circa}}&nbsp;800,<ref>Meehan 1994, 91.</ref> long after St. Columba's death in 597. The proposed dating in the 9th century coincides with [[Viking expansion|Viking raids]] on Lindisfarne and Iona, which began c. 793-794 and eventually dispersed the monks and their [[relic|holy relics]] into Ireland and Scotland.<ref>Kennedy, Brian. "Celtic Ireland." The Book of Kells and the Art of Illumination. Ed. Pauline Green. Canberra, Australia: Publications Department of the National Gallery of Australia. 2000. Print.</ref><ref>Brown 1980, 32.</ref> There is another tradition, with some traction among Irish scholars, that suggests the manuscript was created for the 200th anniversary of the saint's death.<ref>{{cite book|title= In Search of Ancient Ireland: The Origins of the Irish from Neolithic Times to the Coming of the English|last= McCaffrey|first= Carmel|author-link= Carmel McCaffrey|last2=Eaton |first2=Leo|year= 2002|publisher= New Amsterdam Books|location= Chicago|isbn= 1-56131-072-7|url= https://archive.org/details/insearchofancien00mcca}}</ref> Alternatively, as is thought possible for the Northumbrian Lindisfarne Gospels and also the [[St Cuthbert Gospel]], both with [[Saint Cuthbert]], it may have been produced to mark the "translation" or moving of Columba's remains into a shrine reliquary, which probably had taken place by the 750s.<ref>Meyvaert, 12-13, 18</ref>

There are at least four competing theories about the manuscript's place of origin and time of completion.<ref name="Henry74"/> First, the book, or perhaps just the text, may have been created at Iona and then completed in Kells. Second, the book may have been produced entirely at Iona.<ref name="Dodwell">Dodwell, p. 84</ref> Third, the manuscript may have been produced entirely in the [[scriptorium]] at Kells. Finally, it may have been the product of [[Dunkeld Cathedral|Dunkeld]] or another monastery in [[Picts|Pictish]] Scotland, though there is no actual evidence for this theory, especially considering the absence of any surviving manuscript from Pictland.<ref>Meyvaert, 12, note 26; Sharpe, Richard. "In quest of Pictish manuscripts." '' The Innes Review ''. 59.2 (2008): 145–146.</ref> Although the question of the exact location of the book's production will probably never be answered conclusively, the first theory, that it was begun at Iona and continued at Kells, is widely accepted.<ref name="Henry74"/> Regardless of which theory is true, it is certain that the Book of Kells was produced by Columban monks closely associated with the community at Iona.

The historical circumstances which informed the Book of Kells' production were the preservation of the Latin language after the [[fall of the Roman Empire]] and the establishment of monastic life which entailed the production of texts.  [[Cassiodorus]] in particular advocated both practices, having founded the monastery Vivarium in the sixth century and having written ''Institutiones'', a work which describes and recommends several texts—both religious and secular—for study by monks.  Vivarium included a scriptorium for the reproduction of books in both genres.  Later, the [[Carolingian]] period introduced the innovation of copying texts onto vellum, a material much more durable than the [[papyrus]] to which many ancient writings had been committed.  Gradually, these traditions spread throughout the European continent and finally to the British Isles.<ref>Brown 1980, 17-23.</ref>

===Medieval period===
<!--Hiberno-English spelling-->

Kells Abbey was pillaged by Vikings many times at the beginning of the 9th century,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lyons|first=Martyn|title=Books: A Living History|publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum|year=2011|isbn=978-1-60606-083-4|location=Los Angeles|page=43}}</ref> and how the book survived is not known.<ref>Sir Edward Sullivan, p.4. Book of Kells 1920</ref> The earliest historical reference to the book, and indeed to the book's presence at Kells, can be found in a 1007 entry in the ''[[Annals of Ulster]]''. This entry records that "the great Gospel of Columkille [Columba],<ref>Columkille is the name by which St. Columba is best known in Ireland. {{cite web|url=http://www.libraryireland.com/Wonders/St-Columkille-1.php|title=St. Columkille|publisher=Library Ireland|access-date=8 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202122848/http://www.libraryireland.com/Wonders/St-Columkille-1.php|archive-date=2 February 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> the chief relic of the Western World, was wickedly stolen during the night from the western sacristy of the great stone church at Cenannas on account of its [[Cumdach|wrought shrine]]".<ref name="Henry74"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100001A/ |title= The Annals of Ulster|publisher= CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts|access-date=8 March 2008}}</ref> The manuscript was recovered a few months later—minus its golden and bejewelled cover—"under a [[sod]]".<ref name="Henry74"/><ref>{{cite web |last=O'Donovan |first=John |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G102003.html |title=The Irish Charters in the Book of Kells |website=[[University College Cork]] |access-date=29 February 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626073037/http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G102003.html |archive-date=26 June 2009}}</ref> It is generally assumed that the "great Gospel of Columkille" is the Book of Kells.<ref name=ft>{{cite news|last=Banville|first=John|title=Let there be light: The enduring fascination of Ireland's monastic masterpiece, the Book of Kells|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/efba61be-3265-11e2-916a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2Dms8wCJS|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210221250/https://www.ft.com/content/efba61be-3265-11e2-916a-00144feabdc0#axzz2Dms8wCJS|archive-date=10 December 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=1 December 2012|newspaper=Financial Times|location=London|date=23 November 2012}}</ref> If this is correct, then the book was in Kells by 1007 and had been there long enough for thieves to learn of its presence. The force of ripping the manuscript free from its cover may account for the [[Bookbinding|folios]] missing from the beginning and end of the Book of Kells. The description in the Annals of the book as "of Columkille"—that is, having belonged to, and perhaps being made by Columba—suggests that the book was believed at that time to have been made on Iona.<ref>Dodwell, p. 84. As mentioned above, Columba in fact lived before any plausible date for the manuscript.</ref>

Regardless, the book was certainly at Kells in the 12th century, when land charters pertaining to the Abbey of Kells were copied onto some of its blank pages. The practice of copying charters into important books was widespread in the medieval period, and such inscriptions in the Book of Kells provide concrete evidence about its location at the time.<ref name="Henry74"/>

The Abbey of Kells was dissolved because of the ecclesiastical reforms of the 12th century. The abbey church was converted to a parish church in which the Book of Kells remained.

[[File:KellsFol027v4Evang.jpg|thumb|Folio 27v contains the symbols of the [[Four Evangelists]] (clockwise from top left): an angel ([[Matthew the Evangelist|Matthew]]), a lion ([[Mark the Evangelist|Mark]]), an eagle ([[John the Evangelist|John]]) and an ox ([[Luke the Evangelist|Luke]])]]

====Book of Kildare====
The 12th-century writer [[Gerald of Wales]], in his ''Topographia Hibernica'', described seeing a great Gospel Book in [[Kildare]] which many have since assumed was the Book of Kells. The description certainly matches Kells:

{{blockquote|This book contains the harmony of the [[Four Evangelists]] according to [[Jerome]], where for almost every page there are different designs... and other forms almost infinite... Fine craftsmanship is all about you, but you might not notice it. Look more keenly at it and you will penetrate to the very shrine of art. You will make out intricacies, so delicate and subtle, so exact and compact, so full of knots and links, with colours so fresh and vivid, that you might say that all this was the work of an angel, and not of a man.}}

Since Gerald claims to have seen this book in Kildare, he may have seen another, now lost, book equal in quality to the Book of Kells, or he may have misstated his location.<ref>Henry 1974, 165.</ref><ref>Brown 1980, 83.</ref><ref>Sullivan, The Book of Kells 1920, Page 5.</ref>

===Modern period===
The Book of Kells remained in Kells until 1654. In that year, [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell]]'s cavalry was quartered in the church at Kells, and the governor of the town sent the book to [[Dublin]] for safekeeping. [[Henry Jones (bishop)|Henry Jones]], then [[Bishop of Clogher]] and [[Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dublin]], presented the manuscript to [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College]] in Dublin in 1661,<ref>Gwynn (1954), p. 132</ref> and it has remained there ever since, except for brief loans to other libraries and museums. It has been on display to the public in the [[Library of Trinity College Dublin|Old Library at Trinity]] since the 19th century.

The manuscript's rise to worldwide fame began in the 19th century.  The association with St. Columba, who died the same year [[Augustine of Canterbury|Augustine]] brought Christianity and literacy to Canterbury from Rome, was used to demonstrate Ireland's cultural primacy, seemingly providing "irrefutable precedence in the debate on the relative authority of the Irish and Roman churches".<ref>De Hamel, p.133</ref> [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] were invited to sign the book in 1849.<ref>De Hamel, p.134.  They in fact signed a modern flyleaf which was then bound with the book. The page bearing their signatures was removed when the book was rebound in 1953.</ref> The book's artistry was influential on the [[Celtic Revival]]; several Victorian picture books of medieval illuminations featured designs from the book which were in turn extensively copied and adapted, patterns appearing in metalwork, embroidery, furniture and pottery among other crafts.<ref>De Hamel, 134-135</ref>

Over the centuries, the book has been [[Book binding|rebound]] several times. During a 19th-century rebinding, the pages were badly cropped, with small parts of some illustrations being lost. The book was also rebound in 1895, but that rebinding broke down quickly. By the late 1920s, several folios had detached completely and were kept separate from the main volume. In 1953, bookbinder [[Roger Powell (bookbinder)|Roger Powell]] rebound the manuscript in four volumes and stretched several pages that had developed bulges.<ref>Hoops, Johannes (ed.) "Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde". Walter De Gruyter Inc, September 2001, 346. {{ISBN|3-11-016950-9}}</ref><ref name="Henry152">Henry 1974, 152.</ref> One volume is always on display at Trinity, opened at either a major decorated page or a text page with smaller decorations.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/ <!--old URL redirects to tcd.ie, updated to reflect the new url--> |title=Library: The Book of Kells |publisher=Trinity College Dublin|access-date=15 September 2010   <!-- old URL redirects to tcd.ie, updated to reflect the new url --> }}</ref>

In 2000, the volume containing the [[Gospel of Mark]] was sent to [[Canberra]], Australia, for an exhibition of illuminated manuscripts. This was only the fourth time the Book of Kells had been sent abroad for exhibition. The volume suffered what has been called "minor pigment damage" while en route to Canberra. It is thought that the vibrations from the aeroplane's engines during the long flight may have caused the damage.<ref>{{cite news |title= Book of Kells is damaged |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/apr/15/uk.news1 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=14 April 2000 |access-date=16 June 2015 }}</ref>