The Book of Kells
Iona(?), an Irish monastery on the west coast of Scotland, circa 800
Text in Insular Majuscule
Library of Trinity College, Dublin (Ireland)
Ms. 58 (A.1.6)
Date of Publication of the Facsimile: 1990
Publishers: Fine Art Facsimile Publishers of Switzerland=Faksimile-Verlag, Lucerne (Switzerland)
The Book of Kells is a Gospel Book, which means that it contains the full text
of the four Gospels, preceded by some traditional introductory materials. Such books
were usually elaborately illuminated in the early Middle Ages; this one is especially
ornate.
To quote Urs Duggelin, founder of Faksimile-Verlag Luzern: "Duplicating such complex
designs involved the intermingling of photographic, printing and computer technology
with the craftsmanship provided by experienced lithographers.
First, a special device was invented for the sole purpose of photographing the Book
of Kells, which because of its fragility could neither be unbound nor pressed under
glass for the purpose of taking photographs. The new device uses gentle suction to
pull the manuscript pages flat so that photographs can be taken at an angle.
When a photograph is taken, a color transparency is made and examined under a computer
scanner, which analyzes the shapes and colors of the design. The computer then assigns
numbers corresponding to formulas for the mixing of inks which are sent to a printing
machine.
A preliminary facsimile print is thus made for each page, which is then flown to Dublin
for comparison with the original. As many as five lithographers, printers, and photographers
travel with each page to Dublin and note necessary changes in the intensity and visual
quality of colors that were not picked up by the computer.
After hundreds of refinements are made for each page, the printing machine is programmed
to print a definitive facsimile page. Tiny holes in the original manuscript -- imperfections
in the original parchment or the result of aging -- are cut into the facsimile by
another machine, which also cuts each page to the original, irregular outline of the
parchment.
Despite the accuracy of this process, facsimile technology is as yet unable to duplicate
the sensation of parchment. Original parchment, usually the skin of a sheep or a goat,
is leathery to the touch and look, has a smooth side and a rougher "hair side," and is
uneven in texture, sometimes being thin to the point of translucency.
Facsimile pages made of paper, by contrast, are of uniform thickness, and all sensual
subtleties such as translucency, softness or thickness of texture, are lost." (From
The New York Times, June 2, 1987.)
fol. 34r
