The content and structure of the Book of Kells
The Book of Kells (BOK) has been described as a luxury Gospel manuscript (Farr, 1997). The textual component of the manuscript is a mix of Vulgate, which is the version of the Bible completed by St.Jerome in the year 384 AD (Meehan, 1994) and Old Latin, which is the version of the Bible that preceded the one completed by St. Jerome. The text is written in long lines, instead of columns, using a script, which can be described as 'insular majuscule' (Farr, 1997 ; Meehan, 1994). The four Gospels are featured in the book.The manuscript comprises of 340 Folios, or 680 pages. It has been documented by scholars that not all of the BOK has survived to the current day; Meehan (1990) puts forth a good argument in which he accounts for the loss of 12 leaves, or 24 pages, as mentioned in Jones (2011). Currently, the manuscript measures 13 x 9 and a half inches. It has been estimated by scholars that the original measurements of the BOK were closer to 11 inches by 15 inches (Jones, 2011).
Introductory materials
The BOK follows a similar content form to many of the other surviving manuscripts from the period in which it was created. The manuscript has been compared with the likes of The Book of Durrow and the Lindsfarne Gospels, in order to identify what the full measure of introductory materials might have comprised of at its time of creation. It is speculated that along with the front and back covers, some of the introductory material may have been removed from the book in 1007 when it was stolen from the monastry at Kells.
The introductory material, which was also known as the preliminaries, tended to vary between Gospel books. According to Jones (2011) the Vulgate Bible normally began with the Novum opus, which was the letter written by St. Jerome to Pope Damasus, in which he explained the aim and purpose of his translation. This element is missing from the BOK. Following on from that, it was common to find Eusebin Canons. In the case of the BOK, these Canons are present; the text is written in narrow columns which are outlined by pillars, which have been illuminated to display the four Evangelical Symbols of the calf, the lion, man/angel and an eagle (Sullivan, 1988). The Canons take up eight pages in total. The rest of the preliminary material takes the form of a listing of Hebrew names, which can be found in the BOK. The Breves Causae and the Argumenta are also included; the former comprises of summaries of each of the four gospels while the latter is made up of biographical statements of each of the four evangelicals (Jones, 2011; Sullivan, 1980).
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A detailed discussion of the artistic content of the BOK can be found on the menu, on hovering the cursor over Subject matter. The artistic content has been divided into two categories : Insular Art and Symbolism. Both pages can be accessed by clicking them as they are listed there.
The introductory material, which was also known as the preliminaries, tended to vary between Gospel books. According to Jones (2011) the Vulgate Bible normally began with the Novum opus, which was the letter written by St. Jerome to Pope Damasus, in which he explained the aim and purpose of his translation. This element is missing from the BOK. Following on from that, it was common to find Eusebin Canons. In the case of the BOK, these Canons are present; the text is written in narrow columns which are outlined by pillars, which have been illuminated to display the four Evangelical Symbols of the calf, the lion, man/angel and an eagle (Sullivan, 1988). The Canons take up eight pages in total. The rest of the preliminary material takes the form of a listing of Hebrew names, which can be found in the BOK. The Breves Causae and the Argumenta are also included; the former comprises of summaries of each of the four gospels while the latter is made up of biographical statements of each of the four evangelicals (Jones, 2011; Sullivan, 1980).
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A detailed discussion of the artistic content of the BOK can be found on the menu, on hovering the cursor over Subject matter. The artistic content has been divided into two categories : Insular Art and Symbolism. Both pages can be accessed by clicking them as they are listed there.