FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Saint John’s University and Abbey Announce the Heritage Edition of The Saint John’s Bible

COLLEGEVILLE, MINNESOTA, August 5, 2006 / -- On September 1, 2006, and in anticipation of the completion of The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University will launch the Heritage Edition, the long-awaited full-size reproduction of The Saint John’s Bible.  Available for subscriptions in pre-publication at an initial price of $115,000, the Heritage Edition will be available in the same seven volumes as the original and will include a special 8^th volume of commentary.  Limited to 299 signed and numbered sets, the Heritage Edition will be the only full-size reproduction of The Saint John’s Bible published by Saint John’s University.

With more than 1150 pages and more than 160 illuminations, The Saint John’s Bible is the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned since the invention of the printing press.  Saint John’s University has partnered with world-renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson, Senior Scribe to Her Majesty the Queen’s Crown Office at the House of Lords in London, England, to create this masterpiece.  A truly monumental manuscript at more than two feet tall and three feet wide when open, The Saint John’s Bible continues the Benedictine tradition of copying and caring for sacred texts.  To spread its message of inclusion, The Saint John’s Bible is being written in English and includes powerful illuminations that place the manuscript clearly within our modern age.  Newsweek Magazine has christened The Saint John’s Bible “…America’s Book of Kells.” 

"I am deeply honored to be a part of this project," says the Heritage Edition’s Director, Craig Bruner. He continues by saying that, "what we are offering to individuals, institutions, and rare book collectors, is the opportunity to be a part of history.  The Heritage Edition places subscribers in the exclusive position of being able to share a millennial project with their families, places of worship, or cherished institutions."

Proceeds from the sale of the Heritage Edition will fund the continuing preservation of ancient Christian texts around the world, a permanent home for The Saint John’s Bible, and study and teaching about manuscripts, the Bible, and the interaction of art and religion throughout the ages.

About Saint John’s University and Abbey and the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library

For more than 1,500 years, Benedictines have maintained the tradition of preserving and copying sacred texts.  Saint John’s University and Abbey, housing one of the nation’s largest Benedictine monasteries, continues this tradition at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, the home of The Saint John’s Bible.  Founded in 1965, The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library now holds in trust the largest collection of Christian manuscript images in the world and is considered a premier research institution for the study of texts related to Christian culture 

Contact: Craig Bruner, Director of the Heritage Edition, Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at Saint John’s University, +1-320-363-2771 or cbruner@csbsju.edu.

In the Benedictine tradition of reverence for human thought and creativity, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) preserves manuscripts, printed books and art at Saint John's University; undertakes photographic preservation projects throughout the world; and makes these resources available to students, researchers and visitors both onsite and through advanced technology.  HMML is the home of the world’s largest collection of manuscript images and of The Saint John’s Bible, a handwritten, illuminated Bible for the modern era.  HMML is located on the Saint John’s University campus, 70 miles northwest of Minneapolis on I-94 and can be found at www.hmml.org or through the Saint John’s University Web site at www.csbsju.edu. 

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