700-year-old bible on public display for first time
An ancient bible thought to be more than 700-years-old and illustrated by a medieval master is on public display for the first time in the place it was created.
The Sarum Master Bible can now be seen at Salisbury Cathedral, which has managed to acquire the manuscript after a charity raised the £90,000 for it.
The small bible - handwritten in Latin and just 17cm high - is an illustrated manuscript, so the first letter of each book of the bible is lavishly decorated, often with figures.
The Sarum Master - real name unknown - was a specialist working in Salisbury in between the years of 1240 and 1250 when this book was created.
The 13th Century manuscript is now carefully kept among others in a room that has been a library for nearly 600 years, with tall, thick wooden shelves filled with leather-bound volumes and a gate that the public are not allowed behind.
Dr Anne Dutton is the librarian there: "I spend a great deal of my working day on a ladder."
"I can honestly say that it was the most spectacular Christmas present I have ever received - of course, not for me personally" she said.
The writing is tiny - which means the decoration and colour on letters and illustrations is too, with none more than 2.5cm high.
Dr Dutton said: "It is virtually impossible to see the details without some kind of magnification."
She explained that for whoever added that in the 1200s, there were lenses that may have been used to create artistry like it.
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"The Sarum Master is considered to be one of the finest English artists of the period.
"Although no details of the artist's life are known, there is evidence to show they were working around Salisbury in the 1240s or 1250s" Dr Dutton said, which is when this manuscript is believed to have been made.
There would have been a lot of artists working in the area at the time, with the cathedral we know today being built.
Dr Dutton does have a favourite decorated initial letter, one from the Book of Revelation: "The initial capital A shows the author - St John - depicted as a medieval scribe. He is hold a quill pen and a pen knife, exactly as a medieval scribe."
The money for the bible was raised by Friends of the Nations' Libraries, after Dr Dutton spotted it for sale at Sotheby's and was contacted when it did not sell at auction.
The bible is on display in Salisbury Cathedral until 20 March, after which it will be kept in the library there, which researchers can visit by appointment and the public can see on open days.
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