The Lindisfarne Gospels

Citation

James, S. (2001), "The Lindisfarne Gospels", Library Review, Vol. 50 No. 5, pp. 263-265. https://doi.org/10.1108/lr.2001.50.5.263.11

The big book (Backhouse, 1981), the mini‐book (Backhouse, 1995), the video (British Library, 1995), and now the CD‐ROM: I have enjoyed using them all, and especially having viewed the original manuscript, both in the old British Museum and when it was on loan in Newcastle. Perhaps even more to the point, I have been a regular visitor to the semi‐island of Lindisfarne over the last 20 or so years (and in recent years have seen also a fine facsimile of the Gospels donated to the island’s church). So why all the fuss? Is this really one of the British Library’s (indeed, Britain’s) greatest treasures? Yes, by any standards. The intrinsic beauty and craftsmanship of the Lindisfarne Gospels speak for themselves as a major milestone in the history of art, as well as in the history of the book. Set them in the historical context of Anglo Saxon England and the kingdom of Northumbria of 1,300 years ago, then add their adventures and migrations until finding their way into the collections of the British Museum, ultimately of the British Library: a story perhaps not yet ended given pressures to return them to their native region on a permanent basis. Then add also their geographical context in a remote region of North East England and, even without yet mentioning their obvious theological and spiritual dimension, we have a manuscript book of unrivalled history and significance.

So, all the attention is well deserved, and this new CD‐ROM product takes the story into our modern computerised age. This disc version offers two main sections: the Gospels themselves, and background information. The background information is, further, presented in two forms: text with images, or the text alone in a larger more readable format. This text itself is written by Janet Backhouse, the main expert on the Lindisfarne Gospels, and based on the 1995 mini‐book, including the further reading list unaltered. As I am going to praise the other half of the programme in terms of its use of the digital medium, I must express disappointment that the background information’s erudite, lucid and wide‐ranging text is presented simply as a linear narrative: the editors could so easily have made better use of the format by dividing the text into sections with their own menu, for those readers who would prefer to go straight to a particular topic (such as how the book was written and illustrated, the history of its migrations, or the background of Lindisfarne, or the relationship with St Cuthbert).

The main feature of the programme is, however, the “Turn the Pages” section. The award‐winning Turn the Pages software allows the user to do just that electronically in real time. Developed for British Library exhibitions it is now for the first time made available for the home computer. The original gospels are written on 259 leaves, most of them unadorned text. The book’s glory resides in 15 decorative pages (marking major divisions of the text), with 16 pages of decorated canon tables, and some text pages with decorated initials. The programme offers 20 openings (plus the front and rear covers in their richly decorated binding) reproducing 25 pages: all the illustrated and decorative pages, a few of the canon tables and one of the decorative initials. Using a mouse for the page‐turning software works very impressively indeed and takes a virtual electronic experience of handling the original about as close as it can get. On turning the page an opening is revealed which might offer a single page opposite a blank or two pages side‐by‐side. The experience and the images are impressive enough on my laptop PC: obviously they are further enhanced on any larger screen.

A “zoom” function is offered and is an important feature of the programme. It not only enlarges a selected area of a page but also brings up a brief introduction to that page and to its background and significance. The “audio” button brings a reading of that text. Also revealed is a small image of the whole page on which one may navigate with the mouse to bring other areas of the page up in zoom. There are additional brief contextual notes which change as appropriate between one part of the page detailed and another.

This is the part of the programme which most users will visit with greatest enthusiasm, and they will be neither disappointed in what they find not failed by the relevance of the notes provided. It runs on a Windows‐based PC or a Macintosh. The colour setting has to be made at (or in the case of my laptop changed to) 256 colours in order to run the programme, but the adjustment is simple and worth the change: the reproductions are superb, capturing (dare I suggest enhancing?) the colour and beauty of the originals.

The production is outstanding: an inexpensive virtual experience of one of the world’s great treasures is presented in a deceptively simple and easy‐to‐use technology. It will have many uses: educational applications for almost any age range (with no upper limit) and in numerous artistic, historical, geographical, cultural or intellectual contexts; or just for instruction and enjoyment to reinforce or recall a viewing of the originals, or as a substitute. This is an outstanding innovative and imaginative example of taking the contents of a major library out to the widest possible public.