The St Cuthbert Gospel is a 7th-century pocket gospel book, written in
Latin, placed in the tomb of Saint Cuthbert at Lindisfarne, probably a
few years after he died in 687. Its finely decorated leather binding is
the earliest known Western book-binding to survive, and the whole book
is in outstanding condition for its age. It was probably made as a gift
from Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, where it was written, intended to be
placed in St Cuthbert's coffin when his remains were placed behind the
altar at Lindisfarne in 698. It presumably remained in the coffin
through its long travels after 875, forced by Viking invasions, ending
at Durham Cathedral. There the book was found inside the coffin and
removed in 1104, and kept with other relics, and important visitors
were able to wear the book in a leather bag around their necks until
the English Reformation. It has been on long-term loan to the British
Library, who today announced the purchase of the book for £9m ($14.3m)
from the British Jesuits. The library describe it as "the earliest
surviving intact European book and one of the world's most significant
books".
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Cuthbert_Gospel>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1080:
On the death of his brother Harald III, Canute IV, who would later be
the first Dane to be canonized, became King of Denmark.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canute_IV_of_Denmark>
1907:
Construction started on the first ship in the Minas Geraes class ,
making Brazil the third country in the world to build a dreadnought
battleship and sparking a South American naval arms race.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minas_Geraes_class_battleship>
1951:
The Peak District was designated the first national park in the British
Isles.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_District>
1969:
Sirhan Sirhan was convicted for the assassination of United States
Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirhan_Sirhan>
1982:
A new patriated Constitution of Canada, including the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms, a bill of rights intended to protect certain
political and civil rights of people in Canada, was signed into law by
Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Act%2C_1982>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kasha (n):
A porridge made from boiled buckwheat groats, or sometimes from other
cereal groats
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kasha>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
144px
Poetry is the supreme fiction, madame.
Take the moral law and make a
nave of it
And from the nave build haunted heaven. Thus,
The conscience is
converted into palms,
Like windy citherns hankering for hymns.
We agree in principle.
That's clear. But take
The opposing law and make a peristyle,
And from the peristyle
project a masque
Beyond the planets. Thus, our bawdiness,
Unpurged by epitaph,
indulged at last,
Is equally
--Wallace Stevens
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wallace_Stevens>