Codex
Overall appearance/size (folio, quarto, octavo, manual): The Book of Durrow may be an octavo codex, if one uses the standard sizes where an octavo manuscript is between 8 and 10 inches tall. The Book of Durrow is approximately 9.5 inches tall and 5.5 inches wide. It may also be manual, as it is an unusual size for the time period being tall and skinny.

Covers (clasps, material, decoration, text on the spine, press-mark): King Flann Sinna (879-916) had a cumdach (a cover or “portable shrine”) made for it in honor of St Columba. “The Durrow shrine was lost during the period of military occupation of Trinity College in 1689, the book being left with only ‘a plain brown rough leathern cover’, as Narcissus Marsh, then archbishop of Dublin, described it in 1699” (Meehan, 1996, p. 13).

Structure (number and composition of gatherings, disposition of hair and flesh sides of parchment/vellum), number of folios, list blank folios: The Book of Durrow consists of 248 folios of “calfskin vellum which… was variable in texture and colour and was made up in highly irregular gathering sizes” (Meehan, 1996).

“Examination of the manuscript revealed that it was written for the most part in gatherings of ten leaves, but there was considerable variation, and some of the decorative pages were on single leaves” (Calkins, 1983, p. 33-36). In 1954, the manuscript was taken apart and rebound. Examination of the manuscript at this time showed that the book was definitely not in the original order. “The original quiring has been lost, the manuscript had been whip-stitched into artificial gatherings of six leaves each” (Meehan, 1996, p. 74).

“The artist chose the flesh side of the skin for carpet pages and pages at the opening of the Gospels, but used the hair side for three of the symbols, the Man, the Eagle and the Calf. A pronounced follicle pattern can be seen on many pages” (Meehan, 1996, p. 76).

Folio 248r may have been blank at one point, but it is now a carpet page “composed of ‘lattice’ work with crosses…. This is a most unorthodox position, at least insofar as can be judged from surviving examples of insular Gospel books, and it may represent later work” (Meehan, 1996, p. 36-38).

Book plates or other signs of ownership (arms, etc), dates or evidence of provenance: There is a notitia or aide-memoire on folio 248r that “records the ceding to the monastery of Durrow of land belonging to the monastery of Glenn Uissen in County Carlow” (Meehan, 1996, p. 14).

A portion of the book (folios 208-221) was used to cure sick cattle in the seventeenth century. “A hole in the top right corner prompted the suggestion that a string was run through the leaves and the section hung on a nail when not in use. These leaves show particular signs of water damage, there is considerable depletion of ink, and the vellum has become quite translucent” (Meehan, 1996, p. 14-16).

The leaves were refoliated after the rebinding of 1954 by a British Museum staff member; “this can be seen in the top right corner of each leaf” (Meehan, 1996, p. 76).

Tomorrow, more about the physical aspects of the Book of Durrow.

References
Book of Durrow. (2006). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved Sept 6, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Durrow.
Calkins, R.G. (1983). Illuminated books of the middle ages. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
De Hamel, C. (1994). A history of illuminated manuscripts. London: Phaidon Press.
Diringer, D. (1982). The book before printing: ancient, medieval, and oriental. New York: Dover.
Drogin, M. (1989). Medieval calligraphy: its history and technique. New York: Dover.
Harbison, P. (2005). Durrow – Monasterium Nobile. Irish Arts Review, 22(2), Retrieved Sept 6, 2006, from http://www.irishartsreview.com/html/vol22_no2/durrow/durrow_feature.htm.
Henderson, G. (1987). From durrow to kells: the insular gospel-books 650-800. London: Thames and Hudson.
Martin, H. (1994). The history and power of writing. (L.G. Cochrane, Trans.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1988)
Meehan, B. (1996). The book of durrow: a medieval masterpiece at trinity college dublin. Dublin: Townhouse.
Muir, B.J., Kennedy, N., and Smith, G. (2003). Ductus [Electronic resource]. Melbourne: University of Melbourne.
Vulgate. (2006). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved Oct 3, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulgate.

Title: The Book of Durrow
Contents: The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as well as prefaces, explanatory material, canon tables, and capitula (summaries of the Gospels)
Size: 245 x 145 mm (~9.5 x 5.5 in)
Language: Latin
Library: Trinity College Dublin
Shelfmark: Manuscript A.4.5 (57)

Physical make-up of the manuscript
It consists of 248 folios containing 12 interlaced initials, 5 full-page Evangelist figures, and 6 carpet pages. “It is noteworthy for being one of the earliest known manuscripts to devote a full page solely to ornamentation” (Harbison, 2005).

The text is a copy of the four Gospels in St Jerome’s Vulgate, which was a translation created in the 4th century to be the common Bible, rather than “Old Latin” (Vulgate, 2006; Henderson, 1987). The Gospels appear in the familiar order: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. “Like all Gospel-books of the early Middle Ages, [it] is equipped with prefaces and scholarly explanatory matter” (Henderson, 1987, p. 19). The Book of Durrow also contains canon tables and capitula, which are summaries of the individual Gospels. “It ends with an invocation asking that whoever holds this book in his hands should remember Columba its scribe who copied it in twelve days, but this inscription has been altered and rewritten and if it actually refers to St Columba himself, founder of Iona, it is at best a copy made a century later from one made by the missionary saint” (de Hamel, 1994, p. 22).

For whom written
The first possibility is, of course, that the Book of Durrow was created in the general course of copying manuscripts for the monastery. The monastery may have simply been producing copies of the Gospels for the missionary work that was prevalent in Ireland and Northern England in the seventh century. “The size of the book suggests it could easily slip into a traveller’s saddle-pack and perhaps it was used in several missionary outposts” (de Hamel, 1994, p. 22). This could be supported by the fact that the Book of Durrow did seem to travel a bit throughout history. No matter where it started from, it was in Ireland by the tenth century when King Flan (d. 916) commissioned a cumdach for it. By the early twelfth century it was in Durrow. “As late as the seventeenth century, the Book of Durrow was still being immersed in water to provide a cure for sick cattle” (de Hamel, 1994, p. 39-40).

The second possibility would have it have been written at Lindisfarne in Northumbria. In this case, the monastery and the bishop there may have had a request for a splendid copy of the Gospels made for the purpose of missionary work. “The Book of Durrow, whatever is date, is in general principle the sort of book that we can imagine Bishop Finan of Lindisfarne having as his official Gospels, under the patronage of a powerful and opinionated king, who would want, as royal overlord promoting the conversion of client kingdoms, to display the force and validity of Christianity by physical signs” (Henderson, 1987, p. 40). This is supported simply by the artwork that fills the pages of the manuscript. It is believed to be the earliest manuscript with full-page artwork which speaks to a grandiose exhibition of the Gospels (Harbison, 2005).

By whom written, with analysis of hands
The Book of Durrow was copied by a single monk, but it is relatively certain is that Columba was not the scribe who penned the book even though the colonphon claims such.

The Book of Durrow belongs to the Insular manuscript time period. Examination of the manuscript indicates that the script is Irish (Insular) majuscule. The script contains rounded letters that are closely spaced together; the bodies of the letters are thick and round. The descenders on the letters p and q are short and straight. The ascenders on the letters b and d are short and topped with a wedge shaped serif. “Serifs were formed in the least functional but best controlled manner; minim strokes were broadened at the base with overlapping strokes; arrows marking horizontal strokes were first outlined with the corner of the point and then filled in; single-stroke curves were instead penned in two strokes; and a final reverse stroke overlapped thinning tails to broaden them gracefully as they reached out to touch adjacent letters” (Drogin, 1989, p. 112). Some of the letters appear to be uppercase while still being the same size as those that appear to be lowercase. “Insular Majuscule was an unusual creation in that it contained some letters we recognize as capitals (N, P, R, Z), others we recognize as lowercase (a, b, d, e, etc.), and among them many that could fit either category” (Drogin, 1989, p. 112).

When written/Where written (origin)
The Book of Durrow may have been written in the late 7th century or early 8th century. No one can agree to an exact date or location — Ireland (ca. 650), Iona (ca. 665-675), Lindisfarne (ca. 680) or Northumbria (ca. 687- 721) (de Hamel, 1994; Meehan, 1996).

Provenance
It is not known for certain where the Book of Durrow began. It is known that it was in Ireland by the tenth century as that is when its cumdach was created. It was witnessed being used as a cure for cattle in Ireland some time in the seventeenth century. The Book of Durrow was then brought to Trinity College Dublin by Henry Jones in 1661 along with the Book of Kells (Henderson, 1987). A facsimile copy was made in 1960. If the Book of Durrow has been digitized, the digital copy is not available to the public.

Tomorrow, more about the Book of Durrow.

References
Book of Durrow. (2006). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved Sept 6, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Durrow.
Calkins, R.G. (1983). Illuminated books of the middle ages. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
De Hamel, C. (1994). A history of illuminated manuscripts. London: Phaidon Press.
Diringer, D. (1982). The book before printing: ancient, medieval, and oriental. New York: Dover.
Drogin, M. (1989). Medieval calligraphy: its history and technique. New York: Dover.
Harbison, P. (2005). Durrow – Monasterium Nobile. Irish Arts Review, 22(2), Retrieved Sept 6, 2006, from http://www.irishartsreview.com/html/vol22_no2/durrow/durrow_feature.htm.
Henderson, G. (1987). From durrow to kells: the insular gospel-books 650-800. London: Thames and Hudson.
Martin, H. (1994). The history and power of writing. (L.G. Cochrane, Trans.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1988)
Meehan, B. (1996). The book of durrow: a medieval masterpiece at trinity college dublin. Dublin: Townhouse.
Muir, B.J., Kennedy, N., and Smith, G. (2003). Ductus [Electronic resource]. Melbourne: University of Melbourne.
Vulgate. (2006). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved Oct 3, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulgate.

Did you think I may have fallen off the face of the planet?

Not exactly, more like I fell into a hole.

End of quarter at work coincided with a major paper and a midterm. I started to recover in time to buckle down for my group project (a controlled vocabulary for domestic animal magazines).

Thankfully, I have been knitting; probably one of the few things next to wine that have kept me sane enough to operate in society.

I’ve just started the sleeves to Durrow The back and front went really quickly. I started the back on Sept 26 and started the sleeves on Oct 14. I never really considered ribbing mindless before, but this has been.

What’s sad is I haven’t finished moving all my pictures over to Flickr yet. I’ve gotten back to about Mar of last year. Who knew I had so many pictures on my blog. I think I have about 45 left to upload and change the HTMl code on so they come form Flickr rather than my old place.

Perhaps, to entertain you, I’ll post my manuscript analyses. They were hard work, but I felt rather accomplished when I was done.

This year is the 25th anniversary of Banned Book Week (Sept 23-30).

People should be allowed to make their own choices about what to read rather than having restrictions placed on them by people they may not even know.

To quote the American Library Association:

Banned Books Week emphasizes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them.

The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2005
100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000
Explore Banned Books through Google Books
Vote for your favorite Banned Book

I must apologise for the profusion of posts you will probably be seeing reposted in Bloglines and the like. I am updating my photos to get them all in flickr and to make sure they’re all pointing to the correct place.

Today’s eye candy is some yarn that I dyed last weekend. I used food coloring to dye a couple hanks of KnitPicks dye your own fingering weight merino. I’ve had the yarn laying around for awhile, but had never done anything with it. Then, last week I get the itch to dye something. I didn’t feel like getting completely messy, that’s why I went with the food coloring rather than the acid dyes.

In current knitting, I’m avoiding the Faux Russian Stole. Not sure why. Could be the size of the chart. But I haven’t even managed to complete one chart repeat yet. In it’s place, I’ve finished my Canadian scarf and started a hat for the husband. It’s just a basic hat, no real pattern, out of black Lana Gatto Feeling. I should also be receiving an order from Webs today containing Araucania Nature Wool in the grey colorway. I’m hoping this will work for Durrow. My order of Silky Wool arrived a couple of weeks ago, but it’s a lighter yarn than I remembered (cause looking at the gauge details on the website didn’t register). But, I can make a nice sweater out it down the road, I’m sure.

I don’t normally do WTF Wednesdays, but I’ve seen a couple of things today that I just can’t let go by without comment.

The first is the intersection closest to my apartment and the people who don’t know the meaning of “Right of way.” I am sitting at the light, waiting for it to turn green. There is a car across from me also waiting. The light turns green. The car across from me has no blinkers on, so I assume he is going to go straight. And, he does. I am turning left, so I wait for him to clear the intersection.

In the meantime, another car has approached the intersection from that same direction. He also does not have a blinker on, so I slowly enter the intersection intent on waiting for him to go straight, then I will go. But, no, wait, he wants to turn right. Not a problem, I can still go after him.

But, instead of turning right and just going and getting out of my way, this car stops at the line, angled right, with his right blinker on. I’m still waiting. Then, he sticks his arm out of the window and waves me on.

WTF? He has right of way. If he had just freaking gone, it would have taken up less of my time. I wouldn’t have been left sitting in the intersection trying to figure out what the hell he’s doing.

Sadly, this is not the first time I’ve had someone do this at this intersection.

The second item for today is Molli’s Choice — bottled water for your pet. It comes in “both unflavored water and a selection of subtle and sophisticated flavors to keep even the most discriminating pet properly hydrated.” According to the website, some of these distinctive flavors are

“For Dogs: Original (Unflavored) – Beef Tenderloin – Bacon Delight – Roasted Turkey – Roasted Chicken
For Cats: Original (Unflavored) – Roasted Turkey – Roasted Chicken – Beef Tenderloin”

This ranks up there with puppy purses.

Today’s Eye Candy is a video from my musician friend. I’ve known his music for years now, but this is the first video he’s made. He’s currently visiting friends in Prague and uses a lot of images from around the city to illustrate the song. Since he’s ask that I pass it around, I thought I’d use Eye Candy Friday to do so, since some many of the statues and things he’s included in the video are beautiful examples of Prague’s artwork.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHfNvG6MCFI]

In other news, I’m considering moving over to Blogger Beta, but it sounds like there are still a lot of bugs for them to work out. It’s also not yet compatible with Safari, which is what I use at home. It’s a hard decision cause they’ve finally added some features that it would have been nice to have, like tags (or what they’re calling labels). But, once you switch, there’s no going back. :/

Saturday, Stephanie came to Full Thread Ahead in Los Altos, CA. I got to the store at about 3 pm. Because Stephanie wasn’t due to speak until 5:30, I sat down in an empty chair at the front of the store, pulled out my knitting, and chatted with the other knitters. One of the knitters I met was Sarah, what was working away on an Icarus while wearing a very nice Handmaiden silk shawl.

They decided to seat us a little early. On my way out to the parking lot/seating area, I ran into Kathy from San Jose. I hadn’t seen her since Stitches West, so we chatted for a bit.

I ended up with a seat at the front of the middle, next to a knitter I see quite often at my LYS, who’s name completely escapes me at the moment. Once my seat was claimed I ran off and found a crepes shop just up the street. I had been heading for Le Boulanger, but could smell the crepes from across the street. I got a turkey and cheese crepes and it was delicious. May have to go back sometime to try a sweet crepes.

The only real unfortunate thing about getting seated an hour and a half before the talk was to begin was we were sitting right out in the sun. While yesterday was not hot, sitting right out in the open still gets warm. I kept kicking myself in the ass for leaving my sun hat in the car when the husband dropped me off. I knew it was supposed to be outside, but my brain didn’t make the connection.

By the time Stephanie came out the sun was headed down behind the building, so the temperature changed quite a bit. Thankfully, the knitting I had chosen to bring with me was the lace scarf I’m making out of the River Bend Alpacas yarn (33% alpaca, 33% silk, 33% cashmere) that I got in Ontario last month. It has gotten long enough that I could wrap it around my neck and kept knitting on it.

Stephanie was as funny as ever, simply put.

I was in group 5 for signing, so decided to run off with Kathy and some others (who’s names also all escape me) for dinner. We went to Maltby’s, which has a bathroom that… well… you just have to see it for yourself. All I can say is, boy, that’s a lot of red, for such a small room.

After dinner, I headed back to Full Thread Ahead to do some shopping. It is very easy to pass a lot of time touring a new yarn shop. By the time I was getting rung up, it was time for me to get in line. I had fun standing in line talking to the knitters around me that I both knew and were meeting for the first time. The knitter behind me had driven all the way from Tracey to be there.

When I got up to the table, Stephanie signed my books, and I got a picture with her and the sock. I had thought to bring a Canadian beer with me in case Stephanie was going through withdraw down here in the land of Bud. But, she told me not to worry since she can get that particular beer when she gets home. It was kind of fun to learn I have good taste in Canadian beer. 🙂

I did forget to thank Stephanie for mentioning about butter tarts on her blog. I’ve been with my husband for 8 years now, and in that time we had been to Canada together 3 times and not once was I told about butter tarts. When I saw it on Stephanie’s blog, I asked him about it, and he told me that they’re like pecan pies without the nuts. After finally getting to taste my first butter tart last month, I can say that they are much better than that. 🙂 Now, I need to get my mom to teach me how to make pie crust so I can make my own butter tarts.

Today’s Eye Candy is a swatch I made of Jodi‘s Durrow sweater cable. The swatch was done in KnitPicks Main Line (75% Pima Cotton, 25% Wool) in Dusty Lavender. I got gauge easily. Sadly, something about it didn’t do it for me. The yarn felt uncomfortable, and look a little sloppy in the cables. I ripped it out and made a stockinette swatch, and the yarn feels wonderful. It’s seems to be happier in a nice orderly medium tight st st. I may have to consider a basic vee neck sweater for the Main Line. For now, I love the cable, and there’s some Silky Wool winging its way to me from Webs (sales are great!).

So, for now, you can enjoy the simplicity of the cable.

And my thanks to Jodi. I had never heard of the Book of Durrow until I saw this sweater design, and now I’m studying the Book of Durrow for my manuscripts and incunabula class this semester. It’s a beautiful example of Insular manuscript work.