Sender: Rare book and manuscripts <EXLIBRIS-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
If the Book of Kells were an ancient artifact of Italian provenance, it
would likely have to be returned to Italy.
Why should it not be returned to Kells?
Gabriel Austin
-----Original Message-----
From: Rare book and manuscripts [mailto:EXLIBRIS-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU] On
Behalf Of Farley Katz
Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 9:14 AM
To: EXLIBRIS-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU
Subject: [EXLIBRIS-L] Book of Kells Meets Lasers
In today's NYTimes
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May 28, 2007
Dublin Journal
Irish Classic Is Still a Hit (in Calfskin, Not Paperback)
By EAMON QUINN
DUBLIN, May 27 - For a manuscript written 1,200 years ago and revered as a
wonder of the Western world practically ever since, little is known about
the Book of Kells and its splendidly illustrated Gospels in Latin. But the
book may be about to surrender a few of its many secrets.
Experts at Trinity College in Dublin, where the Book of Kells has resided
for the past 346 years, are allowing a two-year laser analysis of the
treasure, which is one of Ireland's great tourist draws.
The 21st-century laser technology being used, Raman spectroscopy, encourages
hopes among those with a romantic view for an ecclesiastical intrigue like
"The Da Vinci Code" or "The Name of the Rose."
But the precise subjects are more mundane. The laser will study the
chemicals and composition of the book, its pigments, inks and pages of fine
vellum. Experts estimate that 185 calves would have been needed to create
the vellum on which the art and scriptures were reproduced.
Pending the laser analysis, experts assume that expensive materials for some
of the blue pigments came from the gemstone lapis lazuli, mined in northeast
Afghanistan. Yellow pigments are believed to have been made from arsenic
sulfide and, bizarrely, reddish Kermes pigments from the dried pregnant
bodies of a genus of Mediterranean insect, suggesting extraordinary trade
routes for the ninth century.
Some techniques will help to analyze the pigments made from vegetable
matter; others will be used to examine the inks.
"A lot of what we have done before has been based on anecdotal reports of
the materials that were used," said Robin Adams, the librarian of Trinity
College, who hopes the exacting dot-by-dot analysis by laser will unlock
secrets and help his staff preserve the book. "Essentially the laser bounces
back, and you get a spectrum. That spectrum tells you whether this pigment
is lead, copper or whatever. We haven't got the reports yet, but we very
much expect it to tell us new information about what the monks used."
Mr. Adams hopes that Trinity's manuscript research will answer some of his
own questions about the book: "I would like to find out whether this work
can tell us its relationship with other manuscripts. Is the material used in
Kells the same as might be used in England or France? It could tell us a bit
about the movement of materials around the monastic houses. We would love to
find out how these monastic houses worked as communities, and whether the
techniques were the same. Or whether they developed techniques because of
the raw materials they had at hand. That would tell us new information about
the times."
For a religious work, the book has a rather exciting history, but its hazier
aspects are unlikely to be discovered by a laser. It was created around the
year 800 to honor the achievements two centuries before of Columb, also
known as Colm Cille. He was an Irish nobleman who in Ireland and Scotland
founded one of the world's earliest Christian monastic traditions dedicated
to learning and devotion.
Irish legend relates that Colm Cille, after losing a bitter legal ruling
over his right to make copies of books, went into exile on Iona, the
Scottish isle where the Book of Kells is thought to have been written.
But Dutch or Norse Viking raiders landed in 806, and Irish monks evidently
removed the book for safekeeping. Eventually it made its way to the Kells in
County Meath, a monastery outside Dublin.
There it survived new waves of raids, including one by bandits who made off
with the book in 1007, according to contemporary chronicles. It was
recovered two months later, under dirt, stripped of its gold covering.
The book stayed in Kells until Cromwell's wars in the 17th century. A senior
Protestant clergyman, Henry Jones, who had served as a quartermaster general
for the invading army, is said to have "donated" the book to Trinity College
sometime after 1661.
With the original binding lost, the book was split over the years into four
volumes. Two are now on display in "Turning Darkness Into Light," an exhibit
at Trinity College, while the others are being analyzed.
The enduring mystery about whether the book was written on Iona, Kells or at
another Colm Cille monastic site will likely endure. Maybe only a testing of
the DNA of the vellum would reveal the age and source of the calfskins used
at that time and reveal the place of the book's manufacture. Mr. Adams would
like to know if such an analysis could unlock that secret.
"I have always wondered whether a technique could tell us where the cattle
were and where they came from," Mr. Adams said. "Did the skins move around -
was there a trade in the skins or were they produced locally? That would add
to our knowledge. But that is what we are doing in applying these new
techniques."
There is no doubt about the book's appeal in the present day: it attracts
more than 550,000 visitors annually, vying with the Guinness Brewery tour up
the road in central Dublin as Ireland's most popular site.
Its popularity leads to crowds during the summer, and there are plans to
expand its display area in the college library building, which dates from
1732. It has yet to be decided whether the book will need to be removed
during any building work.
Other academics vouch for the book's world importance. "It is one of the
most precious books on the planet," said Terry Dolan, professor of English
at University College Dublin. But Professor Dolan said the book had another
secret that technology would not reveal.
"Little is documented about how the book came to be removed from Kells in
the first place and how it ended up in Trinity," he said. "There is yet
another fascinating mystery story there."