Facsimile Editions (Purchase one and make a contribution to Libraries Without Walls)
Libraries Without Walls is proud to make available a few outstanding print facsimile reproductions of great books. These will be of particular interest to collectors, fine book enthusiasts and libraries.
By special arrangement with the distributors, a proportion of the sales price of each of the facsimiles made available under this offer, will be contributed to Libraries Without Walls to support the ongoing digitization of other similarly important cultural treasures.
Book of Kells
The first and only perfect facsimile editionof the Book of Kells was meticulously photographed, printed and published in association with Trinity College Library, Dublin in 2006. In all, 1,480 copies of this exquisitely-crafted facsimile(size 9-1/2" x 13") was published. Of these, but a handful remain for purchase, which makes this offer particularly valuable.
The Book of Kells is a manuscript which eclipsed all other artistic and cultural achievements of the early Middle Ages. The original work was created around AD 800 by Irish monks to glorify the life of Christ. The first mention of this work of art is probably the entry in the Annals of Ulster under the year 1007 which records that "The great gospel of Columcille, the chief relic of the western world, was wickedly stolen during the night... on account of its wrought shrine. That Gospel was found after 20 nights and two months with its gold stolen from it, buried in the ground." The manuscript remained in Kells until it was entrusted to Trinity College around 1661.
The Book of Kells contains the Latin text of the four Gospels, preceded by prefaces, summaries and canon table with concordances compiled by Eusebius of Caesarea. The manuscript occupies a place of extraordinary importance in the history of art, in paleography and in linguistics. Of its 680 pages, all but two are decorated with a wealth of symbolic imagery which is woven into countless intricate designs. More than 30 folios present full page paintings which are some of the best known and loved images of the period.
Until the existing small supply is exhausted, the Book of Kells facsimiles are available in one of two editions: the more deluxe version features a facsimile of the treasure binding in which the books are, today, preserved at Dublin. The cost (in US Dollars) is between $13,000 and $17,000 depending on the binding selected. Needless to say, in addition to gracing a family collection of important books in Western Civilization, this facsimile would also make a wonderful gift to the library of an alma mater, or a community church.
An inspection can be arranged by writing to: bookofkells@librarieswithoutwalls.org
Gutenberg: Biblia Latina (Pelplin copy)
Johannes Gutenberg's 600th birthday was celebrated in Peplin, Poland, by the commencement of a world-class printed facsimile of the 42-line Bible that has been in its possession almost since Gutenberg released it from his workshop. Of the 180 or so copies of the original two-volume edition that Gutenberg published between 1452-1455, only some three dozen known copies remain in existence throughout the world. One of the earliest has been in the possession of the Diocese of Pelplin, in Poland.
Jan Dlugosz (Johannes Longinus, 1415-1480), the medieval Polish historiographer, described Pelplin in his writings, paying much attention to its massive and important Cistercian monastery. In 1821 Pelplin became the capital of the Chelmno Diocese. The diocesan theological seminar was moved to Pelplin, a printing office was established, and the Cistercian's started a number of schools of secondary and advanced education. In short order, the town became a vital educational center for the entire region of Pomarania. At the turn of the 19th Century, the town was given the sobriquet "The Pomeranian Athens."
In 1939 Pelplin was threatened by the advancing Nazi forces. The Rev. Dr. Antoni Liedtke carried the precious copy of Gutenberg's Bible away to safety in an inconspicuous suitcase. He took it on its first leg to freedom to Paris, and thence it was promptly removed by the Polish flagship "Batory" to Canada for safekeeping. It remain, secured in a Canadian bank vault, until February 24, 1959 when it was ceremoniously returned to Pelplin by the Canadian Government that had been its caretaker for the War and post-War years.
The technologies employed to create the present facsimile edition are among the most advanced in contemporary use. Digital photographs were taken by specialists from Keio University in Japan. Special paper was meticulously crafted to the surface characteristics and caliper of the original, including carefully reproduced and positioned watermarks (as in the original.) Goatskins were prepared with vegetable tanning ingredients (as would have been used in Gutenberg's own workshop) for the binding. And the original binding (one of the very rare exemplars surviving from Gutenberg's time without having been restored or redone in new contemporary materials) was carefully reproduced.
Every step of the reproduction process was made as authentic as possible, and assiduously checked against the original for veracity and faithfulness. Even the "inconspicuous suitcase" that carried the original to safety during WWII has been reproduced to exacting facsimile standards!
Orders may be placed be writing to: gutenberg@librarieswithoutwalls.org.