The Lindisfarne Gospels

Phaidon Press. Very Good. 1991. Soft Cover. 4to 0714824615 Dimensions: 27.9 x 21.1 x 1 cm. With 67 illustrations, 31 in colour. THE LINDISFARNE GOSPELS, a manuscript produced in the Northumbrian island monastery of Lindisfarne at the end of the seventh century, in honour of Saint Cuthbert, is one of the world's masterpieces of book painting. It is a precious relic of early Christianity in England, and one of the nation's greatest treasures. This is the first book to make the chief glories of the Lindisfarne Gospels accessible to a wide public. All the important illuminated pages are reproduced in colour from a new and accurate set of photographs. In her introductory chapters Janet Backhouse tells the story of Lindisfarne and of Saint Cuthbert, and describes how the manuscript was made. A sequence of the great illuminated pages is then followed by an absorbing account of their relationship to earlier and contemporary works of art. The final chapter traces the history of the manuscript right up to the present day. Now reissued as a paperback, The Lindisfarne Gospels is a fitting tribute to one of the world's greatest works of art. JANET BACKHOUSE is an Assistant Keeper in the Department of Manuscripts at the British Library, which owns the Lindisfarne Gospels. .