Book of Durrow
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BookOfDurrowBeginMarkGospel.jpg
The Book of Durrow (Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS 57) is a 7th Century illuminated manuscript made either in Northumbria in Northern England or at Durrow Abbey near Durrow in County Laois, Ireland, with modern and traditional scholarship tending towards Durrow. It is a Gospel Book, possibly the oldest extant complete illuminated gospel from Britain and Ireland. The text includes the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, plus several pieces of prefatory matter. It is 247 by 228 mm and contains 248 vellum folios. It contains a large illumination program including six extant carpet pages, a full page miniature of the four evangelist's symbols, four full page miniatures, each containing a single evangelist symbol, and six pages with decorated text. It is written in insular script.
The earliest known cumdach was made to house and protect the Book of Durrow at the behest of King of Ireland Flann Sinna (879-916).
Reference
- Book of Durrow catalogue entry at University of North Carolina (http://www.unc.edu/celtic/catalogue/manuscripts/durrow.html)