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:

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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