In case you were wondering, since we are so close to a holy day as practiced by many. It was on this date, April 17, 2012, when a book was sold for 9 million pounds. That’s about $12 million dollars U.S. The book was an 8th-century Gospel that was owned by St. Cuthbert. It was and is Europe’s oldest intact book.
The St Cuthbert Gospel also known as the Stonyhurst Gospel. It is one old little book, a pocket-sized gospel book, written in Latin. Pretty on the outside, it is. The book has a finely decorated leather binding and is the earliest known Western bookbinding to have survived. It is said to be in outstanding condition for a book of this age.
While the outside may look a little fancy, the inside is essentially undecorated text. And the words? They are the Gospel of John, written in a script that has been regarded as a model of elegant simplicity.
The book takes its name from Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, North East England.
Yep, good old St. Cuthbert. It was in his tomb, with his dead body, for a few years. He died way back in 687. \
It has long been thought to be Cuthbert’s own personal copy of the Gospel. There are several early references to prove this. As such, it also became a relic of the saint.
But some don’t know if he actually carried it around. For some reason, they think the book was just placed in his coffin. Here you go, Cuthbert — a copy of the gospel as a parting gift.
At any rate, his coffin was moved around for some reason. Hidden from marauders, I suppose. The book was found inside the coffin and removed in 1104 when the body was once again moved within the cathedral.
Now get a load of this creepy thing. The book was kept there with other relics, and important visitors were able to wear the book in a leather bag around their necks. I can’t imagine planning a vacation to go see the dead saint and wear his stuff in a bag around my neck. Nope. I’m going to Disneyworld.
At any rate, after King Henry VIII passed the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England between 1536 and 1541, the book was passed on to collectors.
If you are wondering about the content, the text is a very good and careful copy of the single Gospel of John. I’m guessing some meticulous monk hand-wrote every word. He should have signed his name after doing all that work.
But then we would have thought it was the Gospel by Meticulous Monk and probably wouldn’t have fetched nine million pounds at auction.
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“Every saint has a bee in his halo.”
― Elbert Hubbard
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The Gospel according to Monky Man
