WISDOM BOOKS FROM THE SAINT JOHN'S BIBLE are going on display:

Original folios of Wisdom Books from The Saint John’s Bible on display for first public viewing

02/11/2008

For the first time, original folios from Wisdom Books: The Saint John’s Bible will be on display for public viewing. The exhibition, which includes 28 original pages, begins Feb. 18 and runs through Dec. 31 at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) on the campus of Saint John’s University.

Wisdom Books is the fifth completed volume of The Saint John’s Bible and includes some of the Old Testament’s literary masterpieces, including Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. The volume also includes the much-loved book of Job and two Old Testament works including the Wisdom of Solomon, which was originally written in Greek and Sirach which come to us from the Greek tradition.

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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, 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, on beautiful calfskin vellum. Silver, copper, and 24-karat gold leaf add light and brilliance to the pages.

The Saint John’s Bible, consisting of 1,150 pages in seven volumes, will be completed in 2009. 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 outreach and spiritual programming initiatives

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