Celtic Knots - Book of Kells

The Book of Kells is the most lavishly decorated of a series of gospel manuscripts produced between the seventh and ninth centuries, when Irish art and culture flourished at home and in centers of Irish missionary activity overseas.

The Book of Kells was transcribed over many years by Celtic monks around the year 800 AD and is one of the most beautifully illuminated manuscripts in the world. It contains a copy of the four gospels of the New Testament in Latin, preceded by prefaces, summaries, and canon tables or concordances of gospel passages. These are accompanied by magnificent and intricate figures of humans, animals and mythical beasts together with decorative knotwork of interlacing shapes and oranamental details in vibrant colours which appear throughout the text enlivening the pages of this ancient and exotic book.

The Book of Kells is written on vellum and the manuscript is in remarkably good condition considering its great age, though many pages have suffered some damage to the delicate artwork due to rubbing. The manuscript is a product of a major scriptorium over several years by the monks yet was apparently never finished,

The manuscript (which comprises 340 leaves, or folios) was given to Trinity College in the 17th century and since 1953 has been bound in four volumes. It has been on display in the Old Library since the 19th century. Two volumes can normally be seen, one opened to display a major decorated page, and one to show two pages of script.

Facsimile Limited Edition

After so many centuries, the Book of Kells is extremely fragile and few people are allowed access. Fine Arts Facsimile Publishers in Switzerland spent 10 years producing a limited edition which is practically indistinguishable from the original, duplicating even the worm holes in the pages. This facsimile has received worldwide acclaim. In 1990 a group of Irish-Canadians, after 3 years of raising money, purchased this facsimile edition and donated it to the Library. On display for many years in the Fine Arts Library, it is currently in Rare Books and Special Collections in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, in its own case, which itself is a replica of a monk's desk from the middle ages.

The Four Evangelists

Folio 27v contains the symbols of the Four Evangelists (Clockwise from top left): a man (Matthew), a lion (Mark), an eagle (John) and an ox (Luke).

Celtic Cross---Celtic Spirals---Celtic Ogham Alphabet

Celtic Knotwork---Celtic Animals---Celtic Magic---Druid History

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