The Book of Kells. Evangeliorum Quattuor Codex Cenannensis. Berne: Urs Graf-Verlag, 1950. Three Volumes. Elephant folios. Volumes One (folios 1-182) and Two (folios 183-339) are bound in original vellum by Otto Walter, with gilt and black decorated spine and boards. Volume Three contains an introduction by E.H. Alton, an essay on the ornamentation of the manuscript by Peter Meyer, and a collation of the text with the Vulgate by G.O. Simms and is bound in light blue cloth boards with matching vellum spine. Some light shelf-wear & marks to vellum, otherwise a very good set. Housed in publisher’s cardboard cases.

With 48 colour and 652 monochrome reproductions from the famous Book of Kells. Published in a Limited Edition of 500 Numbered Sets.

The Book of Kells (less widely known as the Book of Columba) is an ornately illustrated manuscript, produced by Celtic monks around AD 800. It is one of the more lavishly illuminated manuscripts to survive from the medieval period and has been described as the zenith of Western calligraphy and illumination. It contains the four gospels of the Bible in Latin, along with prefatory and explanatory matter decorated with numerous colourful illustrations and illuminations. Today it is on permanent display at the Trinity College Library in Dublin, where it is catalogued as MS 58