Insular Bookshelf :: Resources

Insular Bookshelf: A Virtual Collection of Early Irish Books

Insular Bookshelf: Medieval Irish Manuscripts

List of Books

An Cathach
Book of Armagh
Book of Dun Cow
Faddan More Psalter
Lindisfarne Gospels
Book of Kells
Book of Durrow

MacRegol Gospels
Mulling Gospels
Stowe Missal
Ussher Gospels

detail of a cat in the Gospel of St. Luke, Lindisfarne Gospels. Courtesy of the British Library Board.

Listed here are some of the sources that were used in research for Insular Bookshelf and links to the repositories where insular manuscripts are held.

Web Resources

The British Library has excellent web-content about the Lindisfarne Gospels. Start here: www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/
lindisfarne.html and scroll to the bottom for an online gallery and "turning the pages" tour of the book. Go here for a detailed discussion by a British Library/Lindisfarne scholar.

The Royal Academy of Ireland (Dublin) holds more than a dozen important medieval manuscripts, including An Cathach and the Stowe Missal, with detailed info about each: www.ria.ie/library/special-collections.aspx
Irish Script on Screen (www.isos.dias.ie/) is a digitization project that features important examples of the Irish languge in medieval manuscripts.
Trinity College Dublin has information about the Book of Kells here: www.tcd.ie/Library/manuscripts/book-of-kells.php
For a quick overview of insular art and history, start with the Wikipedia entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insular_art. And for an overview of Irish medieval history go here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland_800-1169
A timeline of events in the history of book production: http://www.historyofscience.com/G2I/timeline/
The Book of Kells: Copulating Cats and Holy Men by Simon Worrall, 2010. Available only for Kindle at Amazon.com

detail of the Stowe Missal, courtesy of the Royal Irish Academy

Film

Treasure from the Bog from Crossing the Line Films documents the discovery and conservation of the Faddan More Psalter. Note: this dvd format does not work in all US players, but can be played on a computer.

Print Resources

The Ancient Books of Ireland by Michael Slavin. Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 2005.
The Book of Durrow: A Medieval Masterpiece at Trinity College, Dublin by Bernard Meehan. Dublin: Town House, 1996.
The Book of Kells : An Illustrated Introduction to the Manuscript in Trinity College, Dublin by Bernard Meehan. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1994.
The Book of Kells : Reproductions from the Manuscript in Trinity College, Dublin by Françoise Henry. New York: Knopf, 1974.
The British Library Guide to Manuscript Illumination : History and Techniques by Christopher De Hamel. London: British Library, 2001.
Celtic Spirituality (Classics of Western Spirituality) by Oliver Davies. New York: Paulist Press, 1999.
Celtic Illumination : The Irish School by Courtney Davis. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998.
How the Irish Saved Civilization : The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe by Thomas Cahill. New York: Doubleday, 1995.
In Search of Ancient Ireland by Carmel McCaffrey & Leo Eaton. Chicago: New Amsterdam, 2002.
Ireland's Treasures : 5000 Years of Artistic Expression by Peter Harbison. Ireland: Beaux Arts Editions, 2004.
Painted Labyrinth : The World of the Lindisfarne Gospels by Michelle Brown. London: British Library, 2004.
The Lindisfarne Gospels by Janet Blackhouse. Oxford: Phaidon / British Library, 1981.
Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts : A Guide to Technical Terms by Michelle Brown. Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum/British Library, 1994.

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