Conference tallis::celt

205.0. "Book of Kells - be 1st on your block to own one" by CIVIC::JOHNSTON (force or guile could not subdue...) Tue Jun 02 1987 09:19

Associated Press Tue  2-JUN-1987 05:38                       Irish Manuscript

aarX 2-JUN-8705

   Metropolitan Museum Gets First Pages of Book of Kells
Eds: SUBS 8th graf, `The 680-page ...' to DELETE incorrect
reference to Luke being apostle.
                          By MARJORIE ANDERS
                        Associated Press Writer
   NEW YORK (AP) - It's survived a Viking book-napping, and the
threat of Oliver Cromwell to all things Irish. And now - after a
millennium of viewing by but a few scholars and prelates - the
elaborately illustrated Book of Kells will brave mass production.
   But don't expect the work, an Irish national treasure created by
native medieval monks, to pop up in your nearest book store.
Through a combination of high technology and ancient craftsmanship,
a Swiss publisher is reproducing just 1,480 copies of the book in
color, in its entirety.
   The venture has the blessing of Trinity College in Dublin, which
owns the richly detailed original volume. The school stands to earn
``a substantial six-figure sum in pounds,'' said college librarian
Peter Fox.
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Associated Press Tue  2-JUN-1987 05:38              Irish Manuscript (cont'd)

   The limited reproductions will sell for $15,000 each, or $9,800
if ordered before Nov. 30. They will be available in 1990.
   A ceremony announcing the joint venture was held Monday at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, which will be the first museum to
receive a copy when the facsimile is completed.
   Urs Duggelin, publisher and president of Fine Art Fascimile
Publishers of Lucerne, Switzerland, presented the first four pages
of the reproduction to museum director Phillipe de Montebello, who
called it a ``marvelous thing.''
   ``It is probably the best-protected manuscript I ever came
across,'' Duggelin said.
   The 680-page Latin transcription of the first four books of the
New Testament was written in about A.D. 800 to glorify the life of
Christ as told by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
   All but two pages are decorated in color with religious imagery
and symbolism, human figures, animals and plants, some covering
whole pages and some as ornamentation between lines of text. The
manuscript's predominantly Celtic style also draws on Coptic facial
features, Byzantine architecture and Arabic calligraphy, proof of
the world's emergence from the Dark Ages.
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Associated Press Tue  2-JUN-1987 05:38              Irish Manuscript (cont'd)

   The book's name comes from a monastery and town 30 miles
northwest of Dublin, where many scholars believe it was written.
The first record of its existence appeared in 1006 in the Annals of
Ulster and refers to the theft of ``the chief relic of the Western
world.''
   It was probably stolen by the Vikings, who were after the
jewel-encrusted gold case that scholars think once protected it.
``Three months later it turned up - without the cover,'' Fox said.
   It remained at Kells until some time after 1661, when it was
brought to Trinity College by Henry Jones, Bishop of Meath.
   ``Cromwell quartered his cavalry at the monastery in Kells and
the bishop feared for its safety and spirited it to Dublin,'' Fox
said.
   The original will remain on view, four pages at a time, at
Trinity in its well-guarded, humidity-controlled case. Access will
remain restricted.
   The original work is hand-lettered on vellum in a calligraphy
style known as insular majuscule in exquisite inks made from
pulverized lapus lazuli and other precious sources.
   The reprint will use 10-color separations, enhanced by
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Associated Press Tue  2-JUN-1987 05:38              Irish Manuscript (cont'd)

lithography and lasers and printed with modern inks on paper that
closely matches the texture of the original parchment. Each page
will be cut to the irregular size of the original; even the holes
caused by wear and insects will be cut to resemble the originals.
   The book will be hand-bound in white goatskin in a volume 9 1/2 by
13 inches that will weigh more than 20 pounds.
   There have been two previous reproductions; a 1950 black and
white version and a 93-page color effort in 1974, Fox said.
   ``A good deal of the impact of this lavish manuscript was lost''
in those tries, Fox said.
   Trinity allowed Duggelin to reproduce the book only after his
company developed a special machine to hold the book at the proper
angle so that it could be photographed without a glass plate
touching the surface and without having to take the book apart so
the pages could lay flat.

    Just as a brief added note:
    
    William of Normandy's  DOMESDAY BOOK is also currently is the process
    of being faithfully reproduced using state of the art technology.
    
    Two editions are planned. One for libraries and a very limited edition
    for collectors.  The collector's edition, also called the Penney
    Edition for the old penney embedded in each, is to be bound in oak
    scavenged from an abbey being demolished [why demolish an abbey?]
    
    So here we have two rather ancient manuscripts being reproduced
    by complex technologies down to the last splatters, smudges, and
    discolourings.
    
    [for myself, I think this is one of the more sensible uses that
    lasers have been put to]
    
    Anie

    
    Just an additional point of information relative to the comment
    in the news article in .0 that the Book of Kells has been subject
    to " a millenninium of viewing by but a few scholars and prelates".
    The book has in fact been available for viewing by the general public
    in T.C.D. for as long as I can remember. Several of these people
    most certainly didn't belong to the above categories. I know - I've
    seen it!