Editing Lindisfarne Gospels

{{Short description|8th-century illuminated manuscript}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
[[Image:LindisfarneFol27rIncipitMatt.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels contains the incipit from the [[Gospel of Matthew]].]]

The '''Lindisfarne Gospels''' (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an [[illuminated manuscript]] [[gospel book]] probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at [[Lindisfarne]], off the coast of [[Northumberland]], which is now in the [[British Library]] in London.<ref>[http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/lindisfarne-gospels "Lindisfarne Gospels"] The [[British Library]], in 2018 dates it "c. 715-720".</ref> The manuscript is considered one of the finest works in the unique style of [[Hiberno-Saxon]] or [[Insular art]], combining Mediterranean, [[Anglo-Saxon art|Anglo-Saxon]] and [[Celtic art|Celtic]] elements.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Art: Geometric Aspects|last = Hull|first = Derek|publisher = Liverpool University Press|year = 2003|isbn = 0-85323-549-X|location = Liverpool}}</ref>

The Lindisfarne Gospels are presumed to be the work of a monk named [[Eadfrith of Lindisfarne|Eadfrith]], who became [[Bishop of Lindisfarne]] in 698 and died in 721.<ref name="bl">[http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/lindisfarne.html Lindisfarne Gospels] British Library. Retrieved 2008-03-21</ref> Current scholarship indicates a date around 715, and it is believed they were produced in honour of [[Cuthbert of Lindisfarne|St. Cuthbert]]. However, some parts of the manuscript were left unfinished so it is likely that Eadfrith was still working on it when he died.<ref name="bl"/> It is also possible that he produced them prior to 698, in order to commemorate the elevation of Cuthbert's relics in that year,<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Lindisfarne Gospels|last = Backhouse|first = Janet|publisher = Phaidon|year = 1981|isbn = 9780714824611}}</ref> which is also thought to have been the occasion for which the [[St Cuthbert Gospel]] (also in the British Library) was produced.  The [[Gospel]]s are richly illustrated in the insular style and were originally encased in a fine leather [[treasure binding]] covered with jewels and metals made by [[Billfrith]] the [[Anchorite]] in the 8th century. During the [[Lindisfarne#Vikings|Viking raids]] on Lindisfarne this jewelled cover was lost and a replacement was made in 1852.<ref Name=Echo>[http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Let-Gospels-come-home.1784874.jp Let Gospels come home] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219200848/http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Let-Gospels-come-home.1784874.jp |date=19 February 2009 }} Sunderland Echo, 2006-09-22.  Retrieved 2008-03-21</ref> The text is written in [[insular script]], and is the best documented and most complete insular manuscript of the period.

An [[Old English language|Old English]] translation of the Gospels was made in the 10th century: a word-for-word [[Bible gloss|gloss]] of the Latin [[Vulgate]] text, inserted between the lines by [[Aldred the Scribe|Aldred]], Provost of [[Chester-le-Street]]. This is the oldest extant translation of the Gospels into the [[English language]].<ref name="northumbrian-assoc">{{cite web|title=The Lindisfarne Gospels |work=Northumbrian Association |url=http://www.northumbrianassociation.com/gospels.html |access-date=24 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620210212/http://www.northumbrianassociation.com/gospels.html |archive-date=20 June 2012}}</ref> The Gospels may have been taken from [[Durham Cathedral]] during the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] ordered by [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] and were acquired in the early 17th century by [[Robert Bruce Cotton|Sir Robert Cotton]] from [[Robert Bowyer (diarist)|Robert Bowyer]], [[Clerk of the Parliaments]]. [[Cotton library|Cotton's library]] came to the [[British Museum]] in the 18th century and went to the [[British Library]] in [[London]] when this was separated from the British Museum.<ref>[http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/lindisfarne/timeline.html Time line] British Library. Retrieved 2008-03-21</ref>

== History ==
[[File: St. Mark - Lindisfarne Gospels (710-721), f.93v - BL Cotton MS Nero D IV.jpg|thumb|[[Evangelist portrait]] of [[Mark the Evangelist|Mark]]]]
[[Lindisfarne]], also known as "Holy Island", is located off the coast of [[Northumberland]] in northern England (Chilvers 2004). In around 635 AD, the Irish missionary [[Aidan of Lindisfarne|Aidan]] founded the Lindisfarne monastery on "a small outcrop of the land" on Lindisfarne.<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 7">Backhouse 1981, 7.</ref> King [[Oswald of Northumbria]] sent Aidan from [[Iona]] to preach to and baptise the pagan [[Anglo-Saxons]], following the conversion to Christianity of the Northumbrian monarchy in 627. By the time of Aidan's death in 651, the Christian faith was becoming well-established in the area.<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 8">Backhouse 1981, 8.</ref> The Lindisfarne gospel book is associated with the Cult of St. Cuthbert. Cuthbert was an ascetic member of a monastic community in Lindisfarne, before his death in 687. The book was made as part of the preparations to translate Cuthbert's relics to a [[shrine]] in 698. Lindisfarne has a reputation as the probable place of genesis according to the Lindisfarne Gospels. Around 705 an anonymous monk of Lindisfarne wrote the ''Life of St Cuthbert''. His bishop, Eadfrith, swiftly commissioned the most famous scholar of the age, Bede, to help shape the cult to a new purpose.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Lindisfarne Gospels: Society, Spirituality & the Scribe|last=Brown|first=Michelle|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=2003|location=London, The British Library}}</ref>

In the 10th century, about 250 years after the production of the book, Aldred, a priest of the monastery at [[Chester-le-Street]], added an [[Old English]] translation between the lines of the Latin text. In his [[colophon (publishing)|colophon]] he recorded the names of the four men who produced the Lindisfarne Gospels:<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 7"/> [[Eadfrith]], [[Bishop of Lindisfarne]], was credited with writing the manuscript; Ethelwald, Bishop of the Lindisfarne islanders, was credited with binding it; [[Billfrith]], an [[anchorite]], was credited with ornamenting the manuscript; and finally, Aldred lists himself as the person who glossed it in Anglo-Saxon (Old English).<ref>Backhouse 1981, 12.</ref>

Some scholars have argued that Eadfrith and Ethelwald did not produce the manuscript but commissioned someone else to do so.<ref>Backhouse 1981, 13.</ref> However, Janet Backhouse argues for the validity of the statement by pointing out that "there is no reason to doubt [Aldred's] statement" because he was "recording a well-established tradition".<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 7"/> Eadfrith and Ethelwald were both bishops at the monastery of Lindisfarne where the manuscript was produced. As Alan Thacker notes, the Lindisfarne Gospels are "undoubtedly the work of a single hand", and Eadfrith remains regarded as "the scribe and painter of the Lindisfarne Gospels".<ref>Thacker 2004.</ref>

== Commission ==
The Lindisfarne Gospels is a Christian manuscript, containing the four [[gospel]]s recounting the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The manuscript was used for ceremonial purposes to promote and celebrate the Christian religion and the word of God.<ref name=":0" /> Because the body of Cuthbert was buried there, Lindisfarne became an important pilgrimage destination in the 7th and 8th centuries, and the Lindisfarne Gospels would have contributed to the cult of St Cuthbert.<ref name=":0" /> The gospels used techniques reminiscent of elite metalwork to impress a [[Northumbria]]n audience, most of whom could not read, and certainly not understand the Latin text.

According to Aldred's colophon, the Lindisfarne Gospels were made in honour of God and Saint [[Cuthbert]], a Bishop of the Lindisfarne monastery who was becoming "Northern England's most popular Saint".<ref>Backhouse 1981, 7; Chilvers 2004.</ref> Scholars think that the manuscript was written sometime between Cuthbert's death in 687 and Eadfrith's death in 721.<ref name=":0">BBC Tyne 2012</ref> There is a significant amount of information known about Cuthbert thanks to two accounts of his life that were written shortly after his death, the first by an anonymous monk from Lindisfarne, and the second by [[Bede]], a famous monk, historian, and theologian.<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 8"/>

Cuthbert entered into the monastery of [[Old Melrose|Melrose]], now in lowland Scotland but then in [[Northumbria]], in the late 7th century, and after being ordained a priest he began to travel throughout Northumbria, "rapidly acquiring a reputation for holiness and for the possession of miraculous powers".<ref>Backhouse 1981, 8–9.</ref> The [[Synod of Whitby]] in 664 pitted the Hiberno-Celtic church against the Roman church regarding the calculation of the date of Easter. The dispute was adjudged by King [[Oswiu of Northumbria]] in favour of the Roman church, but many of the leading monks at Lindisfarne then returned to Iona and Ireland, leaving only a residue of monks affiliated to the Roman church at Lindisfarne. Due to increasingly slack religious practice in Lindisfarne, Cuthbert was sent to Lindisfarne to reform the religious community.<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 9">Backhouse 1981, 9.</ref> In Lindisfarne Cuthbert began to adopt a solitary lifestyle, eventually moving to [[Inner Farne]] Island, where he built a [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]].<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 9"/> Cuthbert agreed to become bishop at the request of King [[Ecgfrith]] in 684, but within about two years he returned to his hermitage in Farne as he felt death approaching. Cuthbert died on 20 March 687 and was buried in Lindisfarne. As a venerated saint, his tomb attracted many pilgrims to Lindisfarne.<ref>Backhouse 1981, 9–10.</ref>

== Techniques ==
[[File:LindisfarneChiRiho.jpg|thumb|"[[Chi-Rho|Chi Rho]]" monogram at the start of the Gospel of Matthew]]
The Lindisfarne Gospels manuscript was produced in a [[scriptorium]] in the monastery of Lindisfarne. It took approximately 10 years to create.<ref name="Consiglio">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/21588667|title=Lindisfarne Gospels: Why Is This Book so Special?|last=Consiglio|first=Flavia Di|date=20 March 2013|website=BBC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321202502/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/21588667|archive-date=2013-03-21|url-status=live}}</ref> Its pages are [[vellum]], and evidence from the manuscript reveals that the vellum was made using roughly 150 calf skins.<ref>Backhouse 1981, 27.</ref> The book is 516 pages long. The text is written "in a dense, dark brown ink, often almost black, which contains particles of carbon from soot or lamp black".<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 28">Backhouse 1981, 28.</ref> The pens used for the manuscript could have been cut from either quills or reeds, and there is also evidence to suggest that the trace marks (seen under oblique light) were made by an early equivalent of a modern pencil.<ref>Backhouse 1981, 28–31.</ref> Lavish jewellery, now lost, was added to the binding of the manuscript later in the 8th century.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 32">Backhouse 1981, 32.</ref> Eadfrith manufactured 90 of his own colours with "only six local minerals and vegetable extracts".<ref name="Consiglio"/>

There is a huge range of individual [[pigment]]s used in the manuscript. The colours are derived from animal, vegetable and mineral sources.<ref name="Backhouse 2004">Backhouse 2004.</ref> Gold is used in only a couple of small details.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 32" /> While some colours were obtained from local sources, others were imported from the Mediterranean.<ref name="Backhouse 2004" /> The blue was long thought to be [[ultramarine]] from Afghanistan, but analysis with [[Raman microscope|Raman microscopy]] in the 2000s revealed it to be [[Indigo dye|indigo]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Katherine L. |last2=Clark |first2=Robin J. H. |date=January 2004 |title=The Lindisfarne Gospels and Two Other 8th Century Anglo-Saxon/Insular Manuscripts: Pigment Identification by Raman Microscopy |journal=[[Journal of Raman Spectroscopy]] |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=4–12 |doi=10.1002/jrs.1110|bibcode=2004JRSp...35....4B }}</ref> The medium used to bind the colours was primarily egg white, with fish glue perhaps used in a few places.<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 32"/> Backhouse emphasizes that "all Eadfrith's colours are applied with great skill and accuracy, but ... we have no means of knowing exactly what implements he used". 

Professor Brown added that Eadfrith "knew about [[lapis lazuli]] [a semi-precious stone with a blue tint] from the Himalayas but could not get hold of it, so made his own [substitute]".<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 32" />

The pages were arranged into [[Gathering (bookbinding)|gatherings]] of eight. Once the sheets had been folded together, the highest-numbered page was carefully marked out by pricking with a stylus or a small knife.<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 28"/> Holes were pricked through each gathering of eight leaves, and then individual pages were separately ruled for writing with a sharp, dry, and discrete point.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 28"/>

The Lindisfarne Gospels are impeccably designed, and as Backhouse points out, vellum would have been too expensive for "practice runs" for the pages, and so preliminary designs may have been done on [[wax tablet]]s (hollowed-out wood or bone with a layer of wax).<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 31">Backhouse 1981, 31.</ref> These would have been an inexpensive medium for a first draft; once a sketch had been transferred to the manuscript, the wax could be remelted and a new design or outline inscribed.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 31"/>

==History==
As a result of Viking raids, the monastic community left Lindisfarne around 875, taking with them Cuthbert's body, relics, and books, including the Lindisfarne Gospels<ref name=":0" /> and the [[St Cuthbert Gospel]]. It is estimated that after around seven years the Lindisfarne community settled in the Priory at Chester-le-Street in Durham, where they stayed until 995 (and where Aldred would have done his interlinear translation of the text).<ref name="Backhouse-04">Backhouse, 2004</ref> After Henry VIII ordered the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] in 1539, the manuscript was separated from the priory.<ref name="Backhouse-04"/> In the early 17th century the Gospels were owned by Sir [[Robert Bruce Cotton|Robert Cotton]] (1571–1631), and in 1753 they became part of the founding collections of the British Museum.<ref>Chilvers 2004</ref>

===Condition===
The Lindisfarne Gospels are in remarkable condition and the text is complete and undamaged.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 66">Backhouse 1981, 66</ref> However, the original binding of the manuscript was destroyed. In March 1852 a new binding was commissioned by bishop [[Edward Maltby]]; Smith, Nicholson and Co. (silversmiths) made the binding with the intention of recreating motifs in Eadfrith's work.<ref>Backhouse 1981, 90</ref>

==Formal and stylistic elements of the manuscript==
[[File:Lindisfarne Gospels folio 139r.jpg|thumb|[[Gospel of Luke]]]]
In ''The Illuminated Manuscript'', Backhouse states that "The Lindisfarne Gospels is one of the first and greatest masterpieces of medieval European book painting".<ref>Backhouse 1979, 10</ref> The Lindisfarne Gospels is described as Insular or Hiberno-Saxon art, a general term for manuscripts produced in the British Isles between 500 and 900 AD.<ref name="Backhouse-04"/>

As a part of Anglo-Saxon art the manuscript reveals a love of riddles and surprise, shown through the pattern and interlace in the meticulously designed pages. Many of the patterns used for the Lindisfarne Gospels date back before the Christian period.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 47">Backhouse 1981, 47</ref> There is a strong presence of Celtic, Germanic, and Irish art styles. The spiral style and "knot work" evident in the formation of the designed pages are influenced by Celtic art.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 47"/>

One of the most characteristic styles in the manuscript is the [[zoomorphic style]] (adopted from Germanic art) and is revealed through the extensive use of interlaced animal and bird patterns throughout the book.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 47"/> The birds that appear in the manuscript may also have been from Eadfrith's own observations of wildlife in Lindisfarne.<ref name="Backhouse-04"/> The geometric design motifs are also Germanic influence, and appear throughout the manuscript.

The [[carpet page]]s (pages of pure decoration) exemplify Eadfrith's use of geometrical ornamentation. Another notable aspect of the Gospels is the tiny drops of red lead, which create backgrounds, outlines, and patterns, but never appear on the carpet pages.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 51">Backhouse 1981, 51</ref> The red dots appear in early Irish manuscripts, revealing their influence in the design of the Lindisfarne Gospels.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 51"/> Thacker points out that Eadfrith acquired knowledge from, and was influenced by, other artistic styles, showing that he had "eclectic taste".<ref name="Thacker 2004">Thacker 2004</ref> While there are many non-Christian artistic influences in the manuscript, the patterns were used to produce religious motifs and ideas.

Eadfrith was a highly trained calligrapher and he used insular [[majuscule]] script in the manuscript.<ref name="Thacker 2004"/>

===Insular context===
The Lindisfarne Gospels are not an example of "isolated genius... in an otherwise dark age":<ref>Backhouse 1981, 62</ref> there were other Gospel books produced in the same time period and geographic area that have similar qualities to the Lindisfarne Gospels. The Lindisfarne monastery not only produced the Lindisfarne gospels, but also the [[Durham Gospels]] and [[Echternach Gospels]]. These gospel books were credited to "the 'Durnham-Echternach Calligrapher', thought to be the oldest member of the Lindisfarne Scriptorium".<ref>Brown, Michelle P., ''The Lindisfarne Gospels: Society, Spirituality & the Scribe.'' London: The British Library, 2003.</ref> The Echternach gospels might have been made during the creation of the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Durham Gospels came after, but in an old-fashioned style.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Lindisfarne Gospels: Society, Spirituality & the Scribe|last=Brown|first=Michelle|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=2003|location=London}}</ref> The [[Lichfield Gospels]] ([[Lichfield Cathedral]], Chapter Library) employ a very similar style to the Lindisfarne Gospels, and it is even speculated that the artist was attempting to emulate Eadfrith's work.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 66"/> Surviving pages from the Lichfield Gospels also have a cross-carpet page and animal and bird interlace, but the designs do not achieve the same perfection, and are seen as looser and heavier than Eadfrith's.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 66"/>

The design of the Lindisfarne Gospels has also been related to the [[Tara Brooch]] (National Museum of Ireland, Dublin), displaying animal interlace, curvilinear patterns, and borders of bird interlace, but unfortunately the origin of the brooch is unknown.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 66"/> The Durham Gospels ([[Durham Dean and Chapter Library|Durham Cathedral Library]]) are suspected as having been created slightly earlier than the Lindisfarne Gospels, and while they have the bird interlace, the birds are less natural and real than Eadfrith's birds in the Lindisfarne Gospels.<ref>Backhouse 1981, 67</ref> The [[Book of Durrow]] (Trinity College, Dublin) is also thought of as an earlier insular manuscript, as the style of the manuscript is simpler and less developed than that of the Lindisfarne Gospels.<ref>Backhouse 1981, 75</ref> The [[Book of Kells]] (Trinity College, Dublin, MS A. I.6 (58)) employs decorative patterns that are similar to other insular art pieces of the period, but is thought to have been produced much later than the Lindisfarne Gospels.<ref>Backhouse 1981, 41</ref>

==Iconography==
[[File:Meister des Book of Lindisfarne 001.jpg|thumb|[[Matthew the Evangelist]]]]
The Lindisfarne Gospels is a manuscript that contains the Gospels of the four Evangelists Mark, John, Luke, and Matthew. The Lindisfarne Gospels begins with a [[carpet page]] in the form of a cross and a major initial page, introducing the letter of [[Jerome|St. Jerome]] and [[Pope Damasus I]].<ref name="Backhouse-04"/> There are sixteen pages of arcaded [[canon tables]], where parallel passages of the four Evangelists are laid out.<ref>Backhouse 1981, 41; Backhouse 2004</ref> A portrait of the appropriate Evangelist, a carpet page and a decorated initial page precedes each Gospel. There is an additional major initial of the Christmas narrative of Matthew.<ref name="Backhouse-04"/>

===The Evangelists===
[[Bede]] explains how each of the four Evangelists was represented by his own symbol: Matthew was the man, representing the human Christ; Mark was the lion, symbolising the triumphant Christ of the Resurrection; Luke was the calf, symbolising the sacrificial victim of the Crucifixion; and John was the eagle, symbolising Christ's second coming.<ref name="blboard">The British Library Board, [http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/lindisfarne/overview.html "The Lindisfarne Gospels Tour."] Accessed 13 March 2012.</ref> A collective term for the symbols of the four Evangelists is the [[Tetramorph]]s. Each of the four Evangelists is accompanied by his respective symbol in his miniature portrait in the manuscript. In these portraits, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are shown writing, while John looks straight ahead at the reader holding his scroll.<ref name="blboard"/> The Evangelists also represent the dual nature of Christ. Mark and John are shown as young men, symbolising the divine nature of Christ, and Matthew and Luke appear older and bearded, representing Christ's mortal nature.<ref name="blboard"/>

===The decoration of the manuscript===
A manuscript so richly decorated reveals that the Lindisfarne Gospels not only had a practical ceremonial use but also attempted to symbolize the Word of God in missionary expeditions.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 33">Backhouse 1981, 33</ref> Backhouse points out that the clergy was not unaware of the profound impression a book such as the Lindisfarne Gospels made on other congregations.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 33"/> The opening words of the Gospel (the [[incipit]]s) are highly decorated, revealing Roman capitals, Greek and Germanic letters, filled with interlaced birds and beasts, representing the splendour of God's creation.<ref name="blboard"/> On one page alone, there are 10,600 decorative red dots.<ref>Consiglio, Flavia Di. "Lindisfarne Gospels: Why Is This Book so Special?" BBC News, BBC, 20 Mar. 2013, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/21588667.</ref> Different kinds of pigment are used throughout the manuscript.<ref name="Backhouse 2004"/> [[Red lead]] and gold were also used for decoration.<ref name="Backhouse 1981, 32"/><ref name="Backhouse 1981, 51"/>

===The carpet pages===
[[File:F26v.jpg|thumb|[[Carpet page]], F26v]]
Each carpet page contains a different image of a cross (called a cross-carpet page), emphasising the importance of the Christian religion and of ecumenical relationships between churches.<ref name="blboard"/> The pages of ornamentation have motifs familiar from metalwork and jewellery that pair alongside bird and animal decoration.<ref name="Backhouse-04"/>

==Campaign to relocate==
A campaign exists to have the gospels housed in the North East of England. Supporters include the [[Bishop of Durham]], [[Viz (comics)|Viz]] creator [[Simon Donald]], and the Northumbrian Association. The move is vigorously opposed by the British Library.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7306234.stm Viz creator urges gospels return] BBC News Online, 2008-03-20. Retrieved 2008-03-21</ref><ref>[http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.com/pa/ld199798/ldhansrd/vo980402/text/80402-20.htm Hansard, see column 451] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310190009/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.com/pa/ld199798/ldhansrd/vo980402/text/80402-20.htm |date=10 March 2012 }} Speech by the [[Bishop of Durham]] in the [[House of Lords]] in 1998. Retrieved 2009-03-25</ref> Several possible locations have been mooted, including [[Durham Cathedral]], [[Lindisfarne]] itself or one of the museums in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] or [[City of Sunderland|Sunderland]].<ref name="Echo" /> In 1971 professor Suzanne Kaufman of Rockford, Illinois, presented a facsimile copy of the Gospels to the clergy of the Island.<ref>Rockford [Illinois] Register-Star, Sunday 9-27-1970. She led the effort to donate the text after visiting Lindisfarne Island the previous year. Rockford College sponsored the fundraising for the facsimile. She was a professor of art at the college.</ref>

==Exhibitions in the north of England==
Between September and 3 December 2022 the manuscript was exhibited in the [[Laing Art Gallery]] in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]].<ref>[https://laingartgallery.org.uk/whats-on/lindisfarne-gospels Laing Art Gallery]</ref>

From July to September 2013 the Lindisfarne Gospels were displayed in [[Durham University#Libraries|Palace Green Library]], Durham. Nearly 100,000 visitors saw the exhibition.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-24329431 "Lindisfarne Gospels Durham exhibition attracts 100,000 visitors"], BBC News, Tyne, accessed 5 December 2013</ref> The manuscript exhibition also included items from the [[Staffordshire Hoard]], the Yates Thompson 26 ''Life of Cuthbert'', and the gold [[Taplow burial|Taplow belt buckle]].<ref>[http://www.lindisfarnegospels.com/must-see-objects-0 Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition website] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211120038/http://www.lindisfarnegospels.com/must-see-objects-0 |date=11 December 2013 }}</ref> Also included was the closely related [[St Cuthbert Gospel]], which was bought by the British Library in 2012. This returned to Durham in 2014 (1 March to 31 December) for an exhibition of [[bookbinding]]s at the library. Alongside the Lindisfarne Gospels Exhibition was a festival of more than 500 events, exhibitions and performances across the North East and Cumbria.

==See also==
*[[List of Hiberno-Saxon illustrated manuscripts]]
*[[Old English Bible translations]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*[[Janet Backhouse|Backhouse, Janet]]. "Lindisfarne Gospels." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Accessed 10 March 2012.
*Backhouse, Janet. The Illuminated Manuscript. Oxford: Phaidon Press Ltd., 1979.
*Backhouse, Janet. The Lindisfarne Gospels. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1981.
*BBC Tyne. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/features/gospels/gospels_tense_past.shtml "The Lindisfarne Gospels."] BBC Online, 2012. Accessed 10 March 2012.
*Calkins, Robert G. ''Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages''. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1983.
*Chilvers, Ian. ed. "Lindisfarne Gospels"  The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Accessed 9 March 2012.
*De Hamel, Christopher. ''A History of Illuminated Manuscripts''. Boston: David R. Godine, 1986.
*Thacker, Alan. ''Eadfrith (d. 721?)''. [https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/8381 "Oxford Dictionary of Natural Biography"], 2004.
*Walther, Ingo F. and Norbert Wolf. ''Codices Illustres: The world's most famous illuminated manuscripts, 400 to 1600''. Köln, TASCHEN, 2005.
*Whitfield, Niamh. "The “Tara” brooch: an Irish emblem of status in its European context", In: Hourihane, Colm (ed), ''From Ireland Coming: Irish art from the early Christian to the late Gothic period and its European context''. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press, 2001. {{isbn|978-0-6910-8825-9}}
*[https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/lindisfarne-gospels "Lindisfarne Gospels."] The British Library, The British Library, 16 Jan. 2015.
*Brown, Michelle P., ''The Lindisfarne Gospels: Society, Spirituality & the Scribe.'' London: The British Library, 2003.
*Consiglio, Flavia Di. "Lindisfarne Gospels: Why Is This Book so Special?" BBC News, BBC, 20 Mar. 2013.

==Further reading==
*[[Michelle P. Brown|Brown, Michelle P]]., ''The Lindisfarne Gospels: Society, Spirituality and the Scribe''. London: The British Library, 2003
*Brown, Michelle P., ''The Lindisfarne Gospels and the Early Medieval World''. London: The British Library, 2010

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lindisfarne Gospels (710-721) - BL Cotton MS Nero D IV}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051130073122/http://www.fathom.com/course/33702501/index.html The Lindisfarne Gospels], a free online seminar from the [[British Library]].
*[https://elmss.nuigalway.ie/catalogue/502 More information at Earlier Latin Manuscripts]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548tq "The Lindisfarne Gospels"], BBC Radio 4 discussion with Michelle Brown, Richard Gameson & Clare Lees (''[[In Our Time (radio series)|In Our Time]]'', Feb.20, 2003)


{{Insular art}}
[[Category:Gospel Books]]
[[Category:Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts]]
[[Category:8th-century biblical manuscripts]]
[[Category:Cotton Library]], 
[[Category:Lindisfarne]]
[[Category:Vulgate manuscripts]]