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Prophets: Word and Image Exhibition at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, Collegeville, MN

For Immediate Release: February 12, 2007
Contact:  Linda Orzechowski (320)363-3514 or lorzechowsk@csbsju.edu
 

Prophets: Word and Image Exhibition

at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library

February 12, 2007 - December 28, 2007

 

Exhibition showcases the largest number of original pages from The Saint John’s Bible ever to be displayed at Saint John’s Abbey and University


Collegeville, Minnesota ... The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML), located on the campus of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minn., will present the exhibition Prophets:  Word and Image from The Saint John’s Bible. This is the first time 28 original pages from Prophets have been available for viewing in Minnesota, and the greatest number of original pages ever displayed on campus.  The exhibition begins February 12 and runs through December 28, 2007.

 

Word and Image features pages from Prophets, the fourth completed volume of The Saint John’s Bible.  Among the pages on view are Ezekiel’s Vision of the New Temple, Suffering Servant, Valley of the Dry Bones, Daniel’s Vision of the Son of Man and the jubilant Messianic Predictions.   Also on view are artists’ sketches of the illuminations, as well as tools and materials from the scriptorium such as quills, hand-ground pigments, gold leaf, calfskin vellum, and ancient inks from China.

 

According to Carol Marrin, the Executive Director of The Saint John’s Bible, “Prophets:  Word and Image calls each of us to appreciate the beauty of this hand written and illuminated text while listening to the challenge, the gut wrenching questions that surface from these passages and accompanying images.



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Word and Image presents the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned by a Benedictine monastery since the advent of the printing press more than 500 years ago. The Saint John’s Bible, a richly ornamented masterwork hand-illustrated with gold leaf on oversized vellum, is an unprecedented undertaking in contemporary book arts and a major cultural and interfaith endeavor.

 

Commissioned by Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minn., The Saint John’s Bible is a contemporary work created in the tradition of handwritten medieval manuscripts. The artistic director of the project, Donald Jackson, is one of the world’s foremost Western calligraphers and scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Crown Office at the House of Lords. During the past nine years, Jackson has worked in rural Wales, with scribes and artists to write and illuminate The Saint John’s Bible entirely by hand, using quills and paints hand-ground from precious minerals and stones such as lapis lazuli, vermilion, malachite, silver, copper, and 24-karat gold.

 

The Saint John’s Bible, consisting of 1,150 pages in seven volumes, will be completed in 2008. Then it will be housed permanently at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minn., where it will be used in worship and be available to scholars and the public. The Saint John’s Bible will tour to libraries and museums worldwide, offering educational and outreach initiatives for children and underserved communities.

 

 

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Prophets, a reproduction book released in January, is available for purchase at HMML. HMML is open Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.  Guests are welcome to view the exhibition at their leisure.  There is no entrance fee.  Interpretive tours and presentations are available for groups wishing to book in advance. Information and booking requests may be directed to Linda Orzechowski by calling 320-363-3514 or by email at lorzechowsk@csbsju.edu.  For more information about The Saint John’s Bible visit www.saintjohnsbible.org

 

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Other Exhibition Information

 

The Saint John’s Bible began its national and international tour in April 2005 with the opening of Illuminating the Word at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  Since then, The Saint John’s Bible has been exhibited at the Joslyn Museum (Omaha), the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), the Tyler Museum of Art (Tyler, TX), the Museum of Biblical Art (New York, NY) and the Library of Congress (Washington, DC). Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible exhibition will continue at the following venues: Naples Museum of Art (Naples, FL), January 26 – April 6, 2007; Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix, AZ), December 9, 2007-March 7, 2008; Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg, Canada), April 11-June 8, 2008; Tacoma Art Museum (Tacoma, WA), July 11-September 5, 2008; Mobile Museum of Art (Mobile, AL), October 10, 2008-April 10, 2009.

 

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

 

Saint John’s Abbey is a Benedictine monastic community of men who follow the 1500-year tradition of worship and work through daily prayer and service. About two thirds of the community live and work in Collegeville, Minn. The Abbey is located on 2,400 acres of woodland and lakes in Collegeville, 70 miles north of Minneapolis/Saint Paul. Located on the campus of Saint John’s University, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library is dedicated to preservation of and access to art, rare books, and manuscripts focused on how humans imagine the sacred. HMML’s history of preserving rare and endangered handwritten works from around the world by capturing them on microfilm, and now in digital formats, began in earnest in 1965; the collection now totals 30 million pages of manuscripts, the world’s largest collection of manuscript images.   For more information about the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library visit www.hmml.org

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National Exhibition Tour of The Saint John’s Bible, coming to Naples Museum of Art, Naples, FL

For Immediate Release: October 12, 2006 (update date)
 
Contact:  Linda Orzechowski (320)363-3514 or lorzechowsk@csbsju.edu
 
           
 
National Exhibition Tour of The Saint John’s Bible,
the First Handwritten Bible in 500 Years,
Coming to Naples Museum of Art

 
21st Century Bible Uses a Medieval Tradition
to Interpret Scripture from a Contemporary Perspective

‘America’s Book of Kells’
                                            – Newsweek
 
            ‘One of the extraordinary undertakings of our time.”
                                            – Smithsonian magazine
 
 
 
NAPLES, FLORIDA —
The Naples Museum of Art will present the history making exhibition Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible from Friday, January 26 through Friday, April 6, 2007.  This is the only showing of this critically acclaimed exhibition in Florida.
 Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible
presents the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned since the advent of the printing press more than 500 years ago. The Saint John’s Bible, a richly ornamented masterwork hand-illustrated with gold leaf on oversized vellum, is an unprecedented undertaking in contemporary book arts and a major cultural and interfaith endeavor. This exhibition is organized by The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Saint John’s University. It is made possible by a grant from Target.
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ILLUMINATING THE WORD: THE SAINT JOHN’S BIBLE/2
 
Commissioned by Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota, The Saint John’s Bible is a contemporary work created in the tradition of handwritten medieval manuscripts. The artistic director of the project, Donald Jackson, is one of the world’s foremost calligraphers and scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Crown Office at the House of Lords. During the past four years, Jackson has worked in rural Wales, with scribes and artists to write and illuminate The Saint John’s Bible entirely by hand, using quills and paints hand-ground from precious minerals and stones such as lapis lazuli, vermilion, malachite, silver, copper, and 24-karat gold. 
Donald Jackson will be in Naples to give a lecture on the project on Saturday, February 3 at 10 a.m. in Hayes Hall. 
Illuminating the Word
features pages from the first three completed volumes of The Saint John’s Bible: Pentateuch (the first five books of Jewish and Christian scripture), Gospels and Acts, and Psalms. Among the pages on view are The Seven Days of Creation, The Garden of Eden, Jacob’s Ladder, The Ten Commandments, The Parable of the Loaves and Fishes, The Sermon on the Mount, The Parable of the Sower and the Seed, The Birth of Christ, Dinner at the Pharisee’s House, The Woman Accused of Adultery, The Raising of Lazarus, The Death of Moses, The Crucifixion, the frontispieces for the four Gospels, and images of flora and fauna indigenous to Minnesota. Original artist sketches are on view, as is a worktable from the scriptorium displaying materials such as quills, hand-ground pigments, gold leaf, calfskin vellum, and ancient inks from China. The exhibition also includes examples of sacred texts from non-Christian religions and artwork from the special collections of Saint John’s University.
            “The Saint John’s Bible
is an exquisite work of art, a masterpiece of calligraphy,” said Myra Janco Daniels, founder and CEO of the Naples Museum of Art. “We are honored to be bringing it to Naples and are grateful to Target for their sponsorship.”
 
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ILLUMINATING THE WORD: THE SAINT JOHN’S BIBLE/3
 
Theologians from Saint John’s Abbey and University and the College of Saint Benedict, together with consultants from other faiths, have worked with Jackson, providing theological briefs that direct the interpretation of scripture in the illustrations. Based on these briefs, Jackson and his team of scribes and artists have created illuminations reflecting a multicultural world and humanity’s enormous strides in science, technology, and space travel. Because the project is an interfaith undertaking, Jackson has incorporated imagery from Eastern and Western religious traditions, as well as influences from Native American cultures. 
For example, an illumination in Gospels and Acts depicts the Earth as seen from space, a contemporary interpretation of our place in the universe. Illuminations throughout Psalms show artistic renderings of digital voice prints of Saint John’s monks chanting the Psalms—intersected with digital voice prints of calls to prayer in Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Sufi, and Native American religious traditions.
“Illuminated manuscripts have always marked the time and place in which they were created, and The Saint John’s Bible will reflect our world at the beginning of the twenty-first century for future generations,” said Brother Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, president of Saint John’s University. “Today, through partnerships with museums and educational outreach, we hope to touch people of all cultures and creeds with the spirit and beauty of this book.”
The Saint John’s Bible,
consisting of 1,150 pages in seven volumes, will be completed in 2008. Then it will be housed permanently at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota, where it will be used in worship and be available to scholars and the public. The Saint John’s Bible will tour to libraries and museums worldwide, offering educational and outreach initiatives for children and underserved communities.
“The Saint John's Bible
is a unique artistic undertaking, and Target is proud to bring the ‘Illuminating the Word’ exhibition to the Naples Museum of Art and other venues across the country,” said Laysha Ward, vice president, community relations, Target Corporation.  “Target believes in making the arts accessible, and through our sponsorship of this exhibition, we hope all audiences will enjoy the project’s contemporary and multicultural nature.” (Molly—they pulled this quote from old materials; would you like to update?)
Four exhibition-related books are available for purchase: Illuminating the Word: The Making of The Saint John’s Bible ($39.95), Gospels and Acts ($64.95), Pentateuch ($69.95) and Psalms ($39.95).  Prophets will be released in early 2007. For more information visit the website at www.saintjohnsbible.org  
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ILLUMINATING THE WORD: THE SAINT JOHN’S BIBLE/4
 

Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible
will also be exhibited at the following venues: Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix, AZ), December 9, 2007-March 7, 2008; Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg, Canada), April 11-June 8, 2008; Tacoma Art Museum (Tacoma, WA), July 11-September 5, 2008; Mobile Museum of Art (Mobile, AL), October 10, 2008-April 10, 2009.
                                                           
 
About Saint John’s Abbey and University and the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML)
Saint John’s Abbey is a Benedictine monastic community of men who follow the 1500-year tradition of worship and work through daily prayer and service. About two thirds of the community live and work in Collegeville, Minnesota. The Abbey is located on 2,400 acres of woodland and lakes in Collegeville, 70 miles north of Minneapolis/Saint Paul. Located on the campus of Saint John’s University, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library is dedicated to preservation of and access to art, rare books, and manuscripts focused on how humans imagine the sacred. HMML’s history of preserving rare and endangered handwritten works from around the world by capturing them on microfilm, and now in digital formats, began in earnest in 1965; the collection now totals 30 million pages of manuscripts, the world’s largest collection of manuscript images.
 
 
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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Saint John's Bible Exhibition Opens at Library of Congress on October 6th, 2006.

September 19, 2006

Press contacts:
Erin Allen, (202) 707-7302, eral@loc.gov 
Amanda Domizio, Ruder Finn Arts & Communications Counselors,
(212) 583-2798, domizioa@ruderfinn.com 
Linda Orzechowski, Saint John’s University, (320) 363-3514, lorzechowsk@csbsju.edu

                     SAINT JOHN’S BIBLE TRAVELING EXHIBITION
                         OPENS AT THE LIBRARY ON OCT. 6

“Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible,” will open at the Library of Congress on Friday, Oct. 6, in the Northwest Gallery of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C. The exhibition was realized through the collaborative efforts of The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minn., and the Library of Congress. The Library's Rare Book and Special Collections Division and the Interpretive Programs Office cooperated in planning and installing the exhibition in the Library of Congress, which will remain on view through Dec. 30, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday – Saturday.
“As the home of the Gutenberg Bible – one of world’s three perfect copies on vellum – and the Giant Bible of Mainz, both of which are on permanent display in the Thomas Jefferson Building – the Library of Congress is pleased to be a stop on the tour of The Saint John’s Bible,” said Librarian of Congress James. H. Billington. “This contemporary work pays homage to the medieval art form of manuscript illumination, which is richly represented in the Library’s rare book collections.”
“The Saint John’s Bible makes a statement about faith, as well as the importance of art and imagination,” said Brother Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, president of Saint John’s University. “We are pleased to share our work and introduce new elements of the project to audiences across the country through this extended tour.”
Commissioned by Saint John’s Abbey and University, The Saint John’s Bible is a contemporary work created in the tradition of medieval manuscripts and the first handwritten, illuminated Bible to be commissioned by a Benedictine monastery since the advent of the printing press more than 500 years ago. Working with a team of theologians and artists from Saint John’s Abbey and University, Bible Artistic Director Donald Jackson has spent the last six years working in Wales, scribing and illustrating the manuscript using quills and paints hand-ground from minerals and stones such as lapis lazuli, malachite, silver, copper and 24-karat gold.
The Library’s exhibition will feature selections from the first three completed volumes of The Saint John’s Bible: Pentateuch, the first five books of Jewish and Christian scripture; Gospels and Acts; and Psalms. Highlights include folios of the Seven Days of Creation, Genesis, the Garden of Eden, the Ten Commandments, the Birth of Christ, the Crucifixion and the frontispieces for the four Gospels. Original artist tools, sketches and materials from Jackson’s scriptorium will also be on view.
There will be an ancillary display of materials, illustrating the Library of Congress’ holdings in this area. One case will present several priceless volumes from the Library’s extraordinary collection of Bibles. The selection will provide insight into the images, use and origins of Bibles that make them, and other rare books, significant. A multimedia presentation will give visitors a brief overview of illuminated Bibles and Bible-related works in the Library’s Rare Book and Special Collections Division. Covering several centuries and including a wide variety of styles and artistic achievements, the presentation will include ornate Bibles from the Middle Ages, books of hours used by royal personages, as well as volumes meant to be used in religious settings. The selections in the presentation will show how these works, from centuries ago, connect to the work that went into the creation of the Saint John’s Bible.
Jackson will give a presentation titled “Illuminating the Word,” discussing the process of creating a Bible for the 21st century at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 3, in the Coolidge Auditorium, ground floor, Jefferson Building. The lecture is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.
One of the world’s leading calligraphers, Jackson is senior scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Crown Office at the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, a position in which he is responsible for the creation of official state documents. He is an elected fellow and past chairman of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators. His 30-year retrospective exhibition, “Painting with Words,” premiered at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts in August 1988 and traveled to 13 museums and galleries.
Consisting of 1,150 pages in seven volumes, The Saint John’s Bible will be completed in 2008. It will then be housed permanently at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library at Saint John’s Abbey and University. For more information on the project, visit www.saintjohnsbible.org 
Organized by The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Saint John’s University, the exhibition and its national tour are made possible by Target. The Library of Congress exhibition of “Illuminating the Word” is made possible by the Allbritton Foundation.
The Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress holds the most comprehensive and universal rare book collection in the United States. Numbering nearly 800,000 items, its holdings include numerous books produced during the earliest period of printing, 5,700 incunabula (books printed before 1501), Thomas Jefferson's library, the largest collection of early American imprints in the country, the magnificent Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection of Illustrated Books, the libraries of czars of Russia and countless other rare and unique materials.

Tour Schedule:
• Museum of Biblical Art (New York, N.Y.)
through Nov. 26, 2006
• Naples Art Museum (Naples, Fla.)
Jan. 26 – April 6, 2007
• “Dead Sea Scrolls,” with selections from “Prophets,” the fourth volume of the “Saint John’s Bible”
San Diego Natural History Museum (San Diego, Calif.)
June 29 – Dec. 31, 2007
• Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Dec. 9, 2007 – March 7, 2008
• Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg, Canada)
April 11 – June 8, 2008
• Tacoma Art Museum (Tacoma, Wash.)
July 11 – Sept. 5, 2008
• Mobile Museum of Art (Mobile, Ala.)
Oct. 10, 2008 – April 10, 2009

“THE SAINT JOHN’S BIBLE” EXHIBIT OPENS OCT. 6
PR 06-161
09/19/06
ISSN 0731-3527
 

Opening Weekend Events a Success at the Joslyn Museum in Omaha: January 19th - January 21st, 2006.

Donald Jackson, Artistic Director of The Saint John's Bible, returned from Wales to be present for opening events at the Joslyn Museum in Omaha, Nebraska.  Drawing a crowd of over 1700 people for Saturday evening's "member's only" program, the Joslyn was greeted with its highest attendance for the opening of an exhibition.  With standing room only in a room which holds 1200 people, guests were forced to retreat to the foyers and courtyards and listen quietly to Donald Jackson via loudspeakers.

Illuminating the Word: The Saint John's Bible officially opened to the public on Sunday, January 21st. 

The Joslyn offers a wide range of educational programming for a variety of age groups and interests from now until the close of the exhibition on April 16th, 2006.  Docent-led public tours are available on specific dates.  Visit their website for more information on programming and tours.

Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible is organized by The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Saint John’s University. The exhibition and its national tour are made possible by Target Stores. Joslyn is the second venue on the national tour which began at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) (April 10-July 3, 2005). The exhibition at MIA, Joslyn, and other U.S. venues features selections from the first three completed volumes of The Saint John’s Bible (Gospels and Acts, Pentateuch, and Psalms). Throughout the next three years, the exhibition will travel to London and several museums throughout the U.S.

The Saint John's Bible Inspires Children to Create Their Own Hand-Written Work of Art

Students at Holy Spirit Catholic School in Saint Paul received a close-up look and hands on experience of history-making calligraphy this past school year - turkey feathers and all. 

Tim Ternes of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, MN began the experience this past February with a three day long residency at the school and parish.  During that time, Tim shared the amazing and inspirational artwork and story behind The Saint John’s Bible, the first monumental, fully illuminated handwritten Bible commissioned by a Benedictine monastery in almost five hundred years.   Students and parishioners of all ages were given the opportunity to learn about the materials, planning, process and theology behind the seven year project.  Local scribes and artists were also included in the three days to give participants live demonstrations of the many processes involved in the making of the book. 

The initial residency became the catalyst for a school-wide project that would last until the last day of the school year.  Working with parishioners and scribes, Joanne Schulte and Mary Scott, the Holy Spirit students and teachers began to explore and learn about calligraphy.  With the support of local calligraphers, Joanne and Mary worked with each class and student in teaching this ancient and beautiful art.   The walls of the school were soon filled with all the student names in graceful script and illuminated letters and teachers were commenting on how student homework papers had never looked so elegant.  Children could even be seen using sticks to craft large calligraphic letters in the snow banks outside the school windows.  Calligraphy had infected the school and would soon be put to use. 

With calligraphy skills in tow, the students now began the most challenging of their work.  Using The Saint John’s Bible as inspiration, the school began the process of creating its own book of hand-written, fully illuminated sacred texts.  Working in small teams, just like the scribal team for The Saint John’s Bible, sacred texts were read, studied and discussed.  Each text was imagined visually and soon plans began to take shape.  Dividing the work much in the same manner as artists in an ancient scriptorium, students soon found their own special niches.  Some became scribes carefully copying the selected texts.  Others found themselves illuminators, colorists or proofreaders. Students quickly took pride and ownership in not only the physical work, but in the scripture passages as well.   The depth of understanding that each child exhibited as pages and illuminations were explained was impressive and humbling.   In the end the working teams created over 100 original inspirational pages which would later come together as their sacred book.  

Local book binder, Georgia Greeley offered her services to the project by beautifully binding the finished pages into a large  book complete with gilded cover and rich green binding.  As students filed past their book for the first time, many could not believe that the magnificent manuscript before them was theirs.  Wide eyes and cries of recognition, however, soon proved otherwise. 

At the final mass of the school year, the Holy Spirit Book of Sacred Text took its place along side a full-size reproduction of The Saint John’s Bible.   Both impressive books gleamed as students and proud parents looked on.  It was a humbling moment, however,  for The Saint John’s Bible as it soon took second place to its impressive partner on the table.  As mass began, the Holy Spirit Book of Sacred Text received its first blessing and incense and then was held high as it led the procession down the isle with  The Saint John’s Bible following closely behind.   The pride and attention given by the students was evident as the text came down the isle, but it was nothing in comparison to the gleaming faces that came from the congregation as when the sacred Scriptures were proclaimed for the first time from their own text. 

With the completion of the Holy Spirit Book of Sacred Text, The Saint John’s Bible project seems to have come full circle.  From its inception, it was hoped that the Bible project would serve as in inspiration for others to make the scriptures their own.  The students and teachers of Holy Spirit definitely took that hope to heart and made it a reality.  One student summed up the project best when he observed, “I won’t ever think about a book in the same way again, and I know I won’t ever forget these amazing stories.  I really know them.”    What a true gift these students, teachers and parents have given themselves and the world.

Liturgical Press Publishes the first two books based on The Saint John’s BibleDonald Jackson
 

Gospels and Acts       Donald Jackson, Artistic Director and Illuminator

The first in a seven-volume series of full-color, page-by-page reproductions from The Saint John’s Bible, Gospels and Acts has more than 25 illuminations, including full-page opening illuminations for each of the four gospels. Some of the prominent illuminations include the Genealogy of Jesus, the Birth of Christ, the Raising of Lazarus, the Crucifixion, Christ Our Light, the Last Supper, the Road to Emmaus, and Pentecost.  The Word of God, hand-illuminated through ancient methods by a contemporary master, brings the reader to an epiphany of the sacred. Those who allow themselves to savor the experience unfolding before them will come to see how Gospels and Acts beautifully marries text and image to serve the Word.
0-8146-9051-3 Hardcover with dust jacket, 136 pp., 9 3/4 x 15, $64.95
Rights: World, English except Australia, New Zealand and the European Union.

Illuminating the Word: The Making of The Saint John’s Bible
Christopher Calderhead, author; Jerry Kelly, Designer

In this companion volume to The Saint John’s Bible, Christopher Calderhead takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of this extraordinary project. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews, this book tells the story of the makers of the Bible and the community at Saint John’s Abbey and University. The day-to-day struggles of such a monumental undertaking included challenges such as the selection and preparation of more than 250 calf skins. The formation of a team of calligraphers accustomed to working independently and communicating the concerns of the advisory council in Minnesota with the artists in Wales.

Illuminating the Word: The Making of The Saint John’s Bible explores a modern version of an age-old relationship between patron and sponsor, and the artistic director, scribes and artists producing this monumental artwork. It describes lectio divina, the unique method the Benedictine monks use to read the Bible, in which the Holy Scriptures come alive through the power of imagination. It explores the challenge of creating new images for ancient stories. It chronicles the artistic techniques, the tools and materials and workshop practices Donald Jackson used to create his lifetime masterpiece. Illuminating the Word reveals the working process behind one of the greatest undertakings of our time and vividly brings to life its challenges and triumphs.
0-8146-9050-5 Hardcover with dust jacket, 240 pp., 9 5/8 x 11 3/8, $39.95
Rights: World, English

Available Now: to order visit our online gift shop or call 1-800-654-0476
 

The Art of The Saint John's Bible is now  available

Saint John's University introduces a variety of ways you can bring this monumental achievement into your daily life.  The highest quality giclée prints are now available.  You can choose your own special page from the Bible or choose from the favorite illuminations.  visit the online gift shop or call 1-800 -654-0476

Poetry and Illuminations

Kilian McDonnell, OSB, has been writing poetry based on his meditation of scripture for some time.  Several of his poems connect to illuminations from The Saint John's Bible. See how Father Kilian uses Word and Image to create poetry. 

Patience and Fortitude

A new book written by Nicholas A. Basbanes, entitled Patience and Fortitude: A Roving Chronicle of Book People, Book Places, and Book Culture, explores the world of books and the people who love them. Much of the focus centers on the evolution of the book throughout history, from the times of ancient scribes to the present, as well as chronicling the libraries and institutions that treasure them.

In his chapter called "Profiles in Bibliophagia," which is a detailed look at the lives and natures of many specific book loving people and institutions, Basbanes includes Saint John's Abbey and Saint John's University with a discussion of their choice to take on the wonderful task of making The Saint John's Bible. 

The following excerpt is from Patience and Fortitude, describing the project:

"In Collegeville, Minnesota, meanwhile, the Benedictine monks of Saint John's Abbey and Saint John's University announced in the spring of 1999 that they had commissioned Donald Jackson, the official scribe to Queen Elizabeth II and one of the foremost calligraphers in the Western world, to create a seven-volume manuscript version of the Old Testament and New Testament entirely on vellum, complete with hand- painted illustrations and illuminations prepared by a team of artisans working in his scriptorium in Monmouth, England.  Because it uses language that is gender inclusive and nonintrusive to contemporary sensibilities, and is "multicultural," "ecumenical," and "prophetic" in its approach, the monks also chose the New Standard Revised Version as their text.  Executing every letter with goose-quill pens on calfskin sheets, Jackson's group is expected to finish the $3 million project in 2004.  When it is completed, the Saint John's Bible will be sent out on a worldwide exhibition tour and be made available to the general public on CD-ROM, over the Internet, and in a facsimile trade edition."

Patience and Fortitude: A Roving Chronicle of Book People, Book Places, and Book Culture by Nicholas A. Basbanes is published by HarperCollins Publishers of New York, NY, 2001.

The Saint John's Bible featured in Christopher de Hamel's new book

The Saint John's Bible is featured in the introduction of Christopher de Hamel's new book, The Book: A History of the Bible, Phaidon Press, 2001.  Christopher de Hamel is the Fellow Librarian of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, UK, and is recognized as an international expert of manuscripts.

   

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