The Jesuits in Britain have decided to sell the Anglo-Saxon
manuscript known as the St Cuthbert Gospel to the British Library to
fund educational work and to restore an historic church.
The pocketsize Latin translation of St John’s Gospel is thought to be
the oldest intact book produced in Europe.
Produced in northern
England in the late seventh century, it was found in the coffin of St
Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral in 1104, having most likely been placed
there ten years or so after Cuthbert’s death in 687.
The manuscript has been in the possession of the Province since 1769,
and for many years was kept at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire. Since
1979 it has been on loan to the British Library.
The €10.2M sale price, agreed with the advice of Christie’s, will be
used by the Province to strengthen funding for its schools in London and
Glasgow, to help with the foundation of a new school in Africa, and to
restore the nineteenth century parish church of St Peter at Stonyhurst.
Explaining the decision to sell the manuscript, Father Kevin Fox SJ,
said, "It has been our privilege to possess this book for nearly two
hundred and fifty years. Now, in order to answer more of the many
demands on our resources, the Province trustees have decided to sell."
He added that the British Library will ensure that the manuscript is
available for people from around the world to view, either directly or
online.
“People will be able to see the Gospel set among the Library’s other
treasures of the Christian faith and of Anglo-Saxon and Celtic art.”
The St Cuthbert Gospel is a small manuscript of the Gospel of St
John, in Latin, that was written in the late 7th century at the twin
Anglo-Saxon monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow.
It is cased in its original
decorated binding and is the earliest known European book to survive
intact. It was discovered in 1104 in the coffin of St Cuthbert, Bishop
of Lindisfarne (d.687) when the saint’s shrine was dedicated in Durham
Cathedral.
The book passed into the hands of a private collector after 1540 when
the Cathedral priory was dissolved.
By the 18th century it was in the
possession of the 3rd Earl of Lichfield, who gave the book to Canon
Thomas Phillips.
He in turn donated the book to the Jesuits in 1769 and
they have owned it ever since.
From 1979 the Gospel has been on loan to the British Library where it
is regularly on public display in the Sir John Ritblat Treasures
Gallery.
The British Library is uniquely placed to house and conserve
the Gospel.